Terminal
by HecateA
Summary: Son of the Lord of the dead, survivor and soldier of the Titan War, demigod, son and brother of 2 dead women; Nico knows all about death. But when the girl who stole his heart is terminally ill, Nico isn't sure he can take any more death.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, so I finished writing this last night meaning the story is complete and I won't give up on it- yeay! (if it's good...) **

**This is one of the most serious stories I've ever writen, and I'm not a doctor and I've never been in a hospital, really, so please forgive me if I get something wrong, but do tell me so I can make it better. **

**If you give me a flame I'll make s'mores and I might even share. **

**For those who know me from Fanpop I try to post once a week so you get to wait, you all have time to catch up and the story lasts.**

**And... Pretend that the Heroes of Olympus never happened (except for Leo) **

**D/A: I am not Rick Riordan unless I am very confused. **

**Dedicated to Terry Fox, who's the reason we're getting closer to a cure for cancer, and to my friends because without them I'd be... Just there... **

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><p>I<p>

_**November 28**_

Nico walked into Sarah's room.

"Hey baby," he said. "It's me."

She turned her head to look at him and smiled. Tired, exhausted, forced smile. She was lying in bed; that couldn't be good. Sarah liked to be up and about or at least sitting up somewhere.

He walked in, kissed her and sat down on the foot of her bed, holding her hand after slipping his schoolbag off his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm late, but my math teacher had to force me to see a tutor person who's not going to help, and I missed the subway," Nico said. "How's your day been?"

"Sitcom reruns, Ken-kens and coughing up blood." Sarah said.

"Oh."

"Yeah, you're my highlight over blood and grocery-store puzzle books. You should be honoured, you even beat the 'treacherous' level ones."

"Don't you just white-out the real numbers and change them for something that works?" Nico asked in an effort to keep up the good mood Sarah was trying to project.

"What's your point?" She asked. He grinned.

"That's my girl."

"That's my guy." They smiled at the inside joke but Sarah started coughing and covered her mouth.

"No- it's okay, Angel. Honest, I'm fine. No throwing up, I promise." Sarah said. She gave him a smile. Tired, exhausted, forced smile that Nico didn't buy. He knew Sarah's smile like the back of his hand. It was a toothy grin with crinkled eyes and it shone brighter than anything that Nico knew about. Sarah had an easy smile, but lately nothing much could bring it out of hiding. Nico hated that.

"Nico! Fantastic to see you!" Someone said. He turned around to see Dr Squirt.

That wasn't his real name of course, but Sarah had been arranging squirts –jujubes filled with artificial fruit juice- on the chair next to her bed during the first or second day of her stay, and he'd come in and sat down. Sarah hadn't bothered telling him he had fruit juice and _eau de gummy _on his lab coat. Everybody in the oncology unit had completely forgotten that he was really Dr. Emile James Labrador Ph.D.; he was now Doctor Squirt to everyone- even to his mother, so Nico had been told.

"Hey Dr. Squirt." Nico said. He was a guy in his early thirties, with hair in a cross between brown and blond that stuck up, rectangle glasses that were always half-way down his nose unless Sarah had pushed them up, and smile lines at his eyes.

"How's your day been, young man?" He said shaking Nico's hand enthusiastically.

"I went to school, Doc. How great can it get?" Nico asked. Dr Squirt chuckled.

"School's important Nico, if you want to have something between the ears. Did Sarah tell you about the new artwork we got in the lobby?"

"Umm… No."

"It's really quite something. Sarah, I'll steal your boyfriend for a minute to show him, can I?"

"But I'm taking the stethoscope hostage until you give me Nico back." Sarah said. The doctor reached for his neck and Sarah held it up. Doc Squirt shook his head and Nico grinned.

"Okay Sarah, you win." He said.

"Yeah, but, I didn't notice anything new coming-" Before he could finish the sentence, Doctor Squirt dragged Nico into the hallway. They walked for a bit before stopping, a fair bit away from the doorframe because Sarah could not be trusted not to want to eavesdrop.

"Actually Nico, we got no new artwork. But I couldn't bear telling you in front of Sar…"

"What's wrong?" Nico asked. "Well, _more _wrong?"

"We've discovered that her tumour has spread," He said. "To her lungs. Hence the recent blood coughing, if you've heard about it." Nico's head felt fuzzy, like cancerous tumours was a new concept. But it wasn't.

_Sarah was packing up her things in the Hermes cabin. A few of her siblings had even given back what they'd stolen from her over the years she'd been here. This was bad; children of Hermes had no regrets. _

"_Sarah what's wrong? They told me you were leaving…" Nico said, peaking through the open door. She looked up at him. She had fluffy light brown hair that was so much fun to flick it should've been illegal and elfish features. Any other daughter of Hermes, but she was pale. Her blue eyes were hallow like she hadn't slept, her shoulders slumped, and she had definitely lost some weight recently, Nico could tell. Her appetite had gone downhill and she was throwing up a lot._

"_Yeah Nico, I'm going to the City." She said._

"_Why? You hate school! I thought you were having way too much fun here with your siblings?"_

"_I am. But… There's something I need to tell you." She said. _

_The kids inside the cabin looked at Sarah with different looks. Worry. Pity. Unease. All of them were things that the children of Hermes weren't known for. _

_Connor Stoll got up, stretched his arms over his head and said,_

"_Guys, let's go put rubber spiders in Cabin 6, and mount a camcorder this time. Sarah, we'll see you at supper." _

"_You've got it Con-man." Sarah said. The kids left the cabin pretty quickly, but not as enthusiastically as they should've seeing what they were off to do. _

_She sat down on her bunk and patted a spot next to her. Nico sat down and she was chewing on her lip. He'd never seen her do that. Never seen Sarah so uncomfortable, she was always at ease in the stickiest mess. Either by talking herself in and out of it, calming herself down by plotting revenge or figuring 'yeah okay, I did deserve it'. She was flexible that way, but not right now. _

"_What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything." Nico said taking her hands._

"_I know, I know, Nico… It's just really hard and really messed up and I don't know how. But… You know how I've been really messed up lately?" _

_Nico knew. Sarah woke up with pounding headaches, which sometimes trapped her in cabin 11 for the day. She'd had gotten worst at fighting, tripping on falls she should be able to catch and stumbling on flat surfaces. Sometimes she got up from bed and she was so dizzy Nico or Chris or someone had to spin her back around and lie her back down. Carried her once. _

"_Yes," Nico said. Sarah launched herself in the story of how Chiron had made her go see a doctor after taking one good look at her. _

_Nico knew why. Since she'd started getting the terrible headaches Sarah had gotten moody, full of angst, and reckless. She'd kept on joking and pulling pranks when she felt up to it, but the pranks were getting more serious and more risky. She was the only one to have followed Connor and Travis in a near suicidal toilet-paper-raid in the Big House, and the only camper to ever spike the kitchen's supply of fruit punch while it was still in the kitchen, with the harpies all around. They'd gotten dangerous, even. _

_And then that Doctor Something-foreign-that-rhymes-with-armadillo had called it a brain cancer, a tumour with a name that Nico had taken forever to figure out -even if he'd risked Googling it, asked Annabeth, asked Chiron, asked the doctors, even read about it- and she was going to stay at the hospital for the time being that chemotherapy lasted and that she was going to miss her siblings and camp and the store and ticking off the nymphs and her friends and him._

_The whole time Nico was just stiff all over, and he felt like he was a bowl of ice cream sitting in the sun, slowly melting away, not believing what he heard and refusing to believe it, but that caught his attention._

"_What do you mean 'miss me'?" _

"_Nico, I'm going to be at a hospital in Manhattan. You live here."_

"_I want to go," Nico said._

"_To the hospital?"_

"_No, to Manhattan. I want to stay with you while this all happens." Nico said._

"_Nico, don't do it for me." Sarah said, "Honestly, you'd have to tell Chiron you'd want to go back to school and he'd see right through it…"_

"_I'll make it happen."_

"_Nico, don't do it for me. I'll be out by the next summer." She said._

"_I'm not doing it entirely for you. Think that I'm going this 7/8 for you, but 1/8 for me because I'd go insane being away from you for so long, and in the dark." _

"_You're always in the dark, Hell on wheels." Sarah smiled. That was one of the last times he'd seen her crinkled smile, during either chemotherapy, radiation therapy that followed or during the explanations as to why they couldn't operate on Sarah and so on. _

Nico's heart sank deep. Deeper than it had since he was 10 years old. He got the most horrible feeling inside of him, like doomsday was coming early.

"There too?"

"Yes. And nothing's going to change it, Nico. We caught it too late- it's too advanced for surgery, which she's not strong enough to survive anyways- and radiation therapy isn't working any better than chemo did. We're keeping her on treatment and praying for a miracle but... This is just one of those times when you could do everything in the world but you need to expect the least."

"No…" Nico said.

"I'm sorry Nico," he said. "Sarah's terminally ill."

The world was yanked from other Nico's feet. No; he wished that would happen, the world just stayed all around him and he couldn't deny it or tell Doctor Squirt he was wrong or anything. He had to look the man in the eyes and between the honesty there, and looking at Sarah weak but still pulling through; he had to admit that Dr Squirt was right. He staggered and caught onto the wall. He just stared at the floor, with his head to the wall for a few seconds. This couldn't be happening…

"Does… Does Sarah know?" He asked sliding his head up.

"Of course. But she probably wouldn't tell you. She'd joke to the end, that girl." Nico's stomach shrunk on itself and tightened and twisted until his insides felt hollowed out.

"Yeah. That's Sarah."

Doctor Squirt gripped Nico's shoulders.

"Don't hold it against her, Nico," he said. Nico nodded.

"I can't. It's in her nature." He said. The hand tightened.

"I'm sorry. I truly, truly am. You should go back to her."

"Yeah… Yeah I should."

Like a sleepwalker- slow, heavy, only half –there- Nico went back into Sarah's room. She took a look at him and the fake smile melted.

"Oh- you got the talk, didn't you?" She asked. Nico nodded and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

"He didn't think you'd have told me."

"Probably not," Sarah admitted. "I spend very much energy, concentration, creativity and resources to make you smile, Hell on wheels. It's a bit totally against the very core of my nature." Nico smiled. Tired, exhausted, forced smile and Sarah didn't buy it. She rubbed her thumb on his.

"It'll be okay."

"Says who?"

"Says me, Corpse breath." Sarah said.

"You say a lot of things Sar."

"Okay, just because it turns out that tiny gnomes high-fiving each other inside wires isn't how electricity is transferred doesn't mean that everything I say is automatically a lie."

"No, it's the fact that you said that Gandalf was gay that threw us off." Percy said at the door. They turned to look at him. He had car keys in his hand and a sly smile on his face. He was wearing a hoody with the sleeves pulled up to the elbows.

"Gandalf- Dumbledore- Merlin's pants, don't hold it against me, I just got confused!"

"I see that. Maybe steal some brains, next time?"

"Percy, I don't need to know your to-do list." Sarah said. Nico smiled. She had a quick tongue and she said it like it was. Always had, still did it now. It was sick to Nico how someone could be terminal while still being… _themselves._

Of course she wasn't all 'herself'. Some things were new- coughing, wheezing, fatigue, throwing up, coughing up blood. But that had nothing to do with anybody- it was just cancer.

"Nico, I'm working extra tonight, so if you want a ride back home, it's now or you sleep here." Percy said.

"I hear the floor's comfy." Sarah said. "'Course they don't let _me _try it."

Nico was torn between wanting to be with this beautiful girl- whom he loved and treasured- or to go home and take some time to process everything and make sense of what Dr Squirt had said. All those un-Sarah terms. Terminal. Death. Cancer. Ill. Nothing to do.

He turned to Sarah.

"You won't hate me forever if I leave you to your Ken-kens?"

"No, but get me another book while you're out there, will you?" Sarah asked.

"I'll bring it to you tomorrow after class." Nico said. He bent down and kissed her.

"Have a good one, babe."

"You too Angel." Sarah smiled and it was a crinkled smile.

Nico followed Percy out of the hospital room and his face fell considerably. He ran a hand through his hair. He breathed 'oh man…' to himself but Percy apparently didn't hear.

They crammed in the elevator with a girl with an IV and her father, got out of the hospital and walked to where Percy had found parking.

In the car, Nico leaned his head back against the headrest of the shotgun seat and he rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. Like he was trying to rub away a stain on his eyelids that made him see the world totally fake and different.

"Doctor told me you were going to get some bad news. I thought you might want to get bailed out early." Percy said, pulling into traffic.

"Thanks Percy." Nico said. He propped his elbow on the side of the car and held his head.

"She's terminally ill," Nico said finally. "They say that radiation and chemo won't work anymore and that lung cancer's too far for surgery to help." Percy bit his lip.

"Yeah, I had a feeling that was it."

"It doesn't even look like it's bothering her." Nico said. "She seemed so calm about it."

"Nico, she might've known for a while. Maybe even before the doctors told her there was nothing left to do." Percy said.

"Still… Wouldn't it bother her?"

"It might. I don't know Sarah as well as you do, but children of Hermes generally drain everything out with jokes. That's what Connor did when Travis was in a comma and that's what Travis did when Katie dumped him."

"I thought they were together?" Nico asked.

"It's an on and off thing." Percy said. The son of Hades thought about that. Yeah, Sarah was a great liar. Not Chiron, not Connor, not Travis nor Nico could really tell what was going on in her head. Thankfully she was very straightforward and open about it 99.9% of the time. And she had pulled some jokes today- but then again that was Sarah anytime, anyplace.

"I don't know. My brain can't think right."

"You need caffeine and sugar, my friend." Percy said. "I swear it helps." Nico was pretty sure he could accomplish Mr D's mission of trying to get drunk with coke, but it wouldn't change anything. It was like the world was slightly out of tune with him. The group of girls laughing as they got out of an apartment building, the couple making out on the sidewalk, the two guys shoving each other and laughing like idiots near the fire hydrant, the couple sharing an IPod and swaying back and forth- not the same world as Sarah was dying in.

"Nico, I'm not Sarah so I can't tell you what she's feeling right now, but it won't help if you're falling to pieces."

"Percy; if Annabeth was dying, would you keep it together?" Nico asked.

"Maybe for her sake. But behind her back I'd be smashing everything I owned and going hysterical." Percy admitted.

"There." Nico said.

Percy found a spot to park in the lot near the apartment building –finding a parking spot for that apartment required an amazing sense of parking karma- and they walked inside. It was late November, and that awkward time of the year where everyone wanted it to snow because it was late November for crying out loud, but not really because that would mean heating bills and slippery sidewalks and struggles to find two matching mittens in the morning, punks throwing snowballs left and right. Oh, and summer vacation had long since worn-off and people just wanted Christmas vacation to show up already.

Nico bumped into some guy who yelled;

"Watch it, punk!"

"Hey, give the kid a break!" Percy snapped back, protectively. "Common, let's take the stairs Nico."

There was nobody there and Nico was fortunate. He didn't want to hide his face from them, and he knew the fact he was about to cry was spelt out all across it.

"Annabeth's there by the way." Percy said as they got on the floor.

"Oh yeah?" Nico was used to seeing Annabeth around the apartment; she lived alone in a college dorm and tended to come around to Percy's apartment, because everybody came around there at some point. Nico didn't mind. He only hung out at the apartment when he was exhausted, visiting hours were over at the hospital, to eat, or to do homework- the last 2 of which Annabeth was great for (her stepmom was a private chef- Annabeth was a quick learner). Plus it was only out of a mix of family love and an inability to say 'no' that made Percy a source of legal tutor, food, and shelter right now. He could easily have said no to Nico, so generally the later listened to Percy when he was telling Nico something serious to do or not to do. But this time he wasn't sure he wanted Annabeth around.

"Yeah- she's working on something and they're doing construction on her dorm building." Percy said. Nico nodded, and Percy opened the door.

Annabeth was sitting in the living room, bent over a sketching pad in intense concentration, some blond curls trickling down onto the paper, flopping back down when she pulled them away. She looked up at the door when she heard the door open.

"Hi Seaweed brain!" She smiled. She was wearing jean shorts, tennis shoes and a baggy NYU hoody.

"Hey Nico," she said.

"Hey," Nico said. He ran – well, not exactly ran, it was more of a speed-walk- across the room and down to his room. Yeah; he had his own room too, another plus of Percy's place.

Sure it wasn't as cool as the Hades cabin, but Nico had never found a place as cool as the Hades cabin anyways. The place had dark blue walls and he'd plastered them with posters from various punk bands. There was a low bed in the corner, a dresser, a desk and a bedside table. Nico closed the door and collapsed on his bed.

Bad idea.

There was a picture of he and Sarah in better times tapped on the wall. There were actually lots of pictures of Sarah and the other people at camp who didn't think he was too much of a freak. Or did and just accepted it. But Nico's eyes seemed to immediately go for the pictures of Sarah- from the time they were both 12 and became best friends at Camp, to the last summer they'd spent together at Camp. Even there you could see a trace of Sarah looking different. Paler, thinner, with pockets under her eyes. Her smile crinkled a little less.

He turned to bury his face in his pillow, the only thing who really couldn't remind him of Sarah in some way. But he didn't need reminders and he knew tears were tricking down his face.

He'd known that cancer didn't always end with recoveries and happy times.

He'd known that things could quite easily do wrong.

But had he ever expected it? No.

Did anybody ever expected it? Nico doubted it.

Sarah may be a daughter of Hermes, but she had a drop of sunshine somewhere inside her. She could make you smile anytime of the day, any day, anytime of the week. Whether she had a joke, pulled a prank on someone in front of you, or pulled a prank on you. Or sometimes it was just by being quiet and holding your hand and being there.

Nico had no idea why out of all people going around camp that day 5 years ago, Sarah had said hello to _him, _but she had. And he'd been way happier ever since, whether it was because she'd thrown a water balloon at that annoying Aphrodite girl who told Nico he'd look good in brighter colors, or because she'd made a joke or brushed her fingers against his when the Hermes mob (you try making a line with those people) and Nico parted ways in the dining pavilion.

The idea that maybe by August he'd be back at Camp without brushing fingers terrified him. The idea he'd be anywhere without it terrified him.

Nico sprang up and starred at the wall.

Oh. My. Gods.

Nico di Angelo was afraid of death.

For the first time in his life he was afraid of death. Afraid of his source of power- afraid of his father! Afraid of the reality that hummed in the air around him, afraid of what he'd seen a million times…

There was a knock on the door.

"Dude, you hungry? We're got pizza… Veggie pizza with extra cheese, just for you…" Percy taunted. Nico was planning on saying no, but common, extra cheese.

"Yeah, give me a minute." Nico called. He swung his legs off bed and checked his reflexion in the mirror. No red eyes, he rubbed his cheeks a bit- okay, he was fine. He joined Percy and Annabeth in the kitchen and sat down at the table. Annabeth was telling Percy about a job opening her teacher had told her about.

"I just thought you'd like working in an aquarium." She shrugged, taking a bite of pizza. Nico dug in and the cheese was still warm and gooey- just the way pizza was created to be eaten.

"I'm already working all the time at the pool, I don't know. But that does sound cooler than telling little kids not to run in the pool area and whatnot."

"You're just suggesting that because you hate having girls flirt with him when they see his abs or whatever it is that's attractive about him." Nico said. Annabeth made a face but Percy laughed.

"Not entirely, but that's another bonus, see?" Annabeth said. She smiled at Nico.

"How was your day?" Annabeth asked. "Did your math quiz go well?"

"It was okay," Nico said. Compared to the rest of the day, that had been like winning the jackpot.

"Any homework tonight?" She asked.

"I've got one English project due sometime. I forgot what it's about but I wrote it somewhere. I think I can handle it." Nico said. Annabeth had nothing more to ask him, Percy already knew that Nico wasn't in a talking mood, or anything that had the letter g-o-o-d in it and stayed quiet.

Nico finished his pizza fast, threw the crust on Percy's plate because he always ate it and put his plate in the dishwasher before sealing himself back into his room.

Nico knew that Chiron was really worried about two children of the Big 3 living in the same house (unlike Percy and Nico were), and that if Nico didn't at least pretend that he was risking his life in New York for more than just Sarah –a reason that would expire soon enough, and then he'd have to find another reason to stay away from Camp- Chiron wouldn't let him stay outside of Camp. And so the only reason he could find; school. He had to at least try, as much as it killed him.

So he opened his English binder and looked at the sheet where he'd written down his homework.

_Transmitting emotions to the reader is part of any good writing. Convey the following emotions based on one of your memories. Each emotion must have a text between 1 paragraph and 1 page long. Write double spaced, spelling and grammar will not be taken into consideration but extra credit may be given and give each text a title. You will have to read your text to the class and they will rate how you transferred the emotion on a scale of 1-5. Presentations are due on December 11__th__ at third period. _

_-Happiness _

_-Anger_

_-Sorrow_

Nico threw the binder and his pencil, which smashed against the wall and fell to the floor, open with the papers bent, and the crayon actually snapped. Damn it the whole world was against him! The whole world was looking at his face and laughing and pointing and dancing up and down. He already knew Sarah was dying. He already knew he was angry and devastated and whatever the stronger form of sad was. He knew that things would never be the same and it was hard enough as it is.

"Damn it!" He said staring up at the ceiling. He buried his face with his hands and just cried. At some point he fell asleep, and demigod dreams didn't bother him, just this once.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey reviews! Yeay! Made me happy!**

**Random factoid: Sarah was named after Sarah from Death Cab's for Cutie song (which I listened to a lot writing this) and Walt Disney's head it frozen somewhere. Possibly at Disney World.**

**No; real random factoid; I've decided that Monday will be posting day for me. So I've got Monday, Tuesday and Friday all busy. But you guys don't care about my schedule so I'll get on with it.**

**D/A: Well, it hasn't changed since the other day, had it? **

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><p>II<p>

_**November 29**_

Nico dumped a plastic bag at Sarah's feet.

"What is it?" She asked. She had a blue scarf dotted with tiny darker flowers wrapped around her head, like she often wore to camouflage the fact she was "so bald Elmer Fudd thinks I'm family", and she was dressed today- jeans, and a t-shirt that she'd probably stolen from one of her siblings (they were nearly all the same size- it was just too easy and unresistable or something).

"Pretend it's Christmas Sarah," he said. "You don't know, you're very excited, you want to open this present that's not in a red plastic bag but in paper printed with little Santa's and rein deer." Nico said. Sarah shrugged and reached for the bag. She took out a tube of White-out, a small Ken-Ken book and a few mechanical pencils.

"Thanks Angel, you're, well, an angel. But if it's Christmas, where's the mistletoe?" Sarah asked.

"It's make-believe mistletoe. It's just above us, if you'd like to know." Nico said. Sarah smiled, something half-way between the tired, exhausted, forced smile that Nico called the Sick Sarah Smile and the crinkled smile, and they leaned in for the kiss- when Dr Squirt came in.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?" He asked, turning his feet already.

"Go away, Doc, there's mistletoe." Sarah said.

"Of course there is." Docs said, "But make it quick, I'll be back in 3 minutes." He said, getting out anyways.

"Where were we?" Sarah asked.

"Well, we were at camp a year and so ago, then we were here, but you came to Central Park with me once…"

"You better shut up Hell on wheels, because _I_ remember." Sarah said. She leaned in, wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him. He kissed her too, and cradled her head with his hand.

Someone cleared his throat.

Sarah and Nico unlocked their lips, but kept their faces close enough for their noses to touch.

"Doctor Squirt, that was not three minutes, right there." Sarah said. "I know you love seeing me and my delightful personality, but go away."

"It was a minute and a half, close enough Sarah." He said. "We've got to run some tests."

"Are you going to kick Nico out? He just got here, and I always find that quite rude on your behalf."

"No, for today Nico can stay if he's comfortable with it."

"Sure," Nico said. Doctor Squirt sat down at the foot of Sarah's bed and did various grip tests and checked her heart amongst others, and asked her how she was doing, took notes, laughed at her jokes, etc.

"I'll leave you two now. Sarah, a nurse will come get you for radiation sometime in the next hour."

"Is it Crystal or Big Bertha?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, don't called Irina that."

"I just really need to know because if it is Big Bertha…"

"Nico, teach her how to be polite when I'm gone."

"You forgot to say 'please'." Nico said.

Sarah was killing herself laughing as Doctor Squirt made a face and left. Sarah leaned back on her pillows and put Nico's present on her bedside table.

"I'm glad you came back today." Sarah said.

"You thought I wouldn't? Sarah, I'm putting up with my cousin to come see you, I wouldn't stop now." As he said it he realised that was why Sarah was scared he'd come. Because of 'now'.

"Look, I'm sorry if I left early last night, and if that gave you any ideas." Nico said.

"Don't worry about it, Angel; it sort of just got dumped on you and you weren't expecting it. And it's sort of a big thing."

"It _is _a big thing." Nico corrected. Sarah shrugged.

"Did you hear from my brothers?" She asked.

"Which one?" Nico asked.

"Any idiot, really."

"I haven't," Nico said. "But I heard that Travis and Katie are back together from Percy who heard it from Annabeth, who is best friends with Katie, who was there."

"Well even I knew that it was back, it's been 13.7 days since they last broke up." Sarah said.

"What are you, the human calendar?" Nico laughed. They talked and talked, Sarah wasn't even feeling nauseous or dizzy or anything. And for a second, if Sarah wouldn't have been connected to the IV and wouldn't have been wheezing, Nico could think that she was just lying down in the grass near the canoe lake, under the shade of that big maple tree with the moody nymph. Nico was half-tempted to lie down beside her.

"Sarah," a nurse with bright red lips at the door said. "It's time for treatment."

"Oh yippee. Angel, you can wait here or come back later." Sarah said.

"I've got homework with me, I'll wait for you." Nico said. Sarah nodded.

"Hope you've got either a lot, or you're very slow, because I get it twice daily, instead of one big mother-of-all doses."

She used to get it three times a day.

"Sure Sarah."

"Oh, before I forget because my brain has other things to remember- in tommorow it's my day off of radiation. Only 5 days a week, right?"

"Yes."

"And that'd be Saturday, right? Do you think we can talk Dr Squirt into letting us go to Central Park again? That was fun." Sarah said. Her eyes were pleading and longing like 'please let me go back to that'.

"Well I couldn't, but you yes." Nico said. "I'd take you anywhere any day, Sar." Sarah smiled.

"Sarah," the nurse called impatient. Sarah made an imitation; a sound like an angry cat.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming, but can I walk?" Sarah said. "My leg's asleep. And can I sing Christmas Carols while I'm at it? Or something top 40. I like the top 40…"

Nico stepped back, nurse took the wires off and out of Sarah and they both left, the nurse keeping a good, good eye on Sarah- who was humming 'Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer'.

Nico wished he was the one keeping an eye on her, making sure she really was okay. He wished he was smart enough to know how to take care of her other than moral support or whatever it was called. Maybe if he were a son of Apollo or someone who'd graduated from a scholarship to medical school… No, then he'd just really, really hate himself for her still being sick. For having to even consider that she was terminally ill…

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><p>"Don't make me break out into puppy eyes," Sarah warned.<p>

"Sarah…"

"Doctor Squirt- common! See, I didn't call you Doc, this shows how much I want this!" Sarah said.

"I'm just not sure if it's a…"

"I will _so _break out my puppy eyes."

"Central park- it's not even that far away." Nico joined in on the begging.

"It's not a question of how far…"

"Doc, Nico will be there." Sarah said. Doctor Squirt looked at Nico like 'really?' Nico nodded like a 5 year old asking for cookies.

"Please?" He asked.

"Just one afternoon. Common, give me one afternoon out of here. Doc, it's not like I've got anything better to do and there's probably not going to be any better time." Sarah told him. Dr Squirt sighed, but he understood what she was hinting at before Nico did.

"Okay, okay. Fine. I'll allow it. One afternoon. I want you back by 5:30 Sarah, and don't eat anything just in case. No running off to demigod places or I don't know or particularly want to know what it is you guys do." Dr Squirt said.

Sarah and Nico nodded quickly and totally went with the idea.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>November 29<span>_**

Sarah and Nico walked through central park, their hands laced together.

Sarah had been at Camp Half-Blood since she was 10, and before that she was from a house with a big property in Louisiana. Maybe her mom hadn't been great, but her main memories of that property were running through forests like a maniac and splashing around in a creek that she swore she's seen an alligator in once. New York was what she liked to call a block of cement. No sorry, a carved-out block of cement, with the little oasis of Central Park that reminded New Yorkers that not all jungles were concrete.

For her; cities were a bore and looking out her window onto another window wasn't exactly her idea of a view. Not for a girl who'd spent the last 7 years in the most natural place the world had left.

They sat at the edge of the fountain and Sarah ran her fingers across the surface. The water wrinkled and their reflections shimmered, like pictures cut into strips. She was wearing jeans, converse sneakers that her siblings had enhanced with spray paint and sharpie-graffiti with 'CONNOR RULES' on the toes of one and 'TRAVIS SUX' on the other, and a plain grey shirt with long sleeves and a denim jacket. She had a scarf stripped black and white covering her head, but people still starred. Sarah didn't care.

When she'd found out her fluffy hair would start falling out, Alena had gotten her a moving box full of scarves that she'd scavenged from the Aphrodite cabin. Most of them were ultra girlie with floral prints. It was probably a way for the Aphrodite girls to avenge themselves for every prank Sarah had pulled. But the Aphrodite kids weren't totally heartless, and bought up what Sarah called 'my very own personal sob story', so some of them were okay. Sarah had worn them all, but Nico swore there was a new one every time, except for the purple one with Celtic designs. That one she liked a lot.

Nico cared about the people staring at Sarah. But he couldn't do much about it. Couldn't tell every person who caught a glance to go packing or to take a picture, because that would pretty much be every person in the park. Whether it was curious, or pitiful, or what, Nico could feel eyes on his back.

"Ignore them," Sarah said. "It'll happen everywhere. Let's just pretend they're the children of Aphrodite. They're not starring at us because I've got no hair; they're starring at us because they're placing bets for a kiss." He bought into Sarah's game.

"How much do you think the guy over there has at stake?" Sarah took one look at him.

"Heavy better, 18 drachmas." She said after looking at him. How she knew that, if she knew, Nico had no idea.

"How happy do you think he'd be to get them?"

"Very." Sarah said. Nico put a hand on her cheek and pulled her face to his, their lips meeting. It never ceased to amaze Nico how well their lips seemed to fit together, like Nico hadn't screwed up that part of life yet.

Then he felt a splash of cold water.

"Hey!" He said. Sarah laughed and he saw that she'd cupped her hand in the fountain and splashed him.

"Oh you are paying for that, Sarah Barclay." Nico said. He splashed her back and she laughed, splashing him again.

Nico ducked and got her back, but Sarah twisted herself and avoided the spray. She ran, staying alongside the fountain. They danced around the stone basin for an undetermined amount of time, trying to get close enough to each other to splash each other without the other running away or missing so the other had a chance. They were both laughing hysterically and Nico was pretty sure those around them thought they were not quite there in the head. But finally Sarah winced and her hand flew to her chest.

Nico called a truce.

Sarah nodded thankfully, and they sat back down on the edge of the fountain. Sarah nearly slipped back into the fountain, but Nico caught her wrist.

"Sarah, you okay?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. Just been a long time since I've ran and…"

"And it's not good for you?"

"Well, half the stuff I do isn't good for me." Sarah said.

"This is different, Sar."

"I'm okay," she said. She met his eyes. "Really."

She looked honest. She honestly believed she was okay. So Nico let go of her wrist and Sarah started stumbling and he caught her by the waist and brought her to her feet.

"Common Sarah, let's find a bench." He said. They crashed on the closest bench and Sarah dropped her head on Nico's shoulder. He put an arm around her.

"This is the most fun I've had in a long time." Sarah said.

_Even if she'd just nearly passed out._

"Me too, Sar." Nico said.

"You know, you don't have to go into fasting-of-fun for me." She said, "You should go to camp once in a while. Train, see your buddies in Apollo, play a game of Capture-the-flag. Or even just hang out with the other kids at your school. And Ian Donatello's your friend, right?"

"Yeah, I've got school too, and between that and keeping you company, going to camp is short-timed and not worth it." Nico said.

"Yeah but Nico, that's it. You don't have enough time. You should have all the time in the world. You should be training- other than with Percy in his apartment where you probably destroy half his stuff every time. You should be doing all of it. You know, weekends at camp, weekdays at school, nights out with friends... Maybe some weeknights with me because it makes me feel special." Sarah smiled. Nico frowned.

"Are you saying that you want me to spend my weekends away from you?"

"Yes… No… Maybe… Look, Nico, I want you to have something to do in your life."

"I do. I do train, Sarah. I don't mope between school, the hospital and the apartment. I even spend some time in the Underworld. I see other people than you, I promise. "

"I meant with the living." Sarah said.

Suddenly Nico got where this was going. She'd seen his face the other day, and she wanted him to brace for it. To brace for her own death.

"Sarah, I'm doing fine. I do IM the guys at Camp, and I do hang out with Ian. I'm not a total social reject. I spend a lot of my time with you, that's true but… But don't worry about me, okay? I'm going to be fine."

"You're not fine now." Sarah said softly. And Nico couldn't deny it.

"It's 5:00, we should get back." Nico said.

"You're avoiding my question." Sarah said, taking Nico's hand, helping her up. "That's the standard thing for an amateur liar to do."

"And how would you know that?" Nico asked jokingly.

"Nico." Sarah said. "I'm serious. This once. On this one thing. When you left on Wednesday night, you looked horrible. You looked worse than Alena, Connor or Travis or anyone I told. I know I won't be around forever, and I want to know that you will and you'll be okay with it. I want to know that you'll be okay."

"I'm okay Sarah," Nico said. "I get it, it scares me, I'm mad at whoever puts disease on people, but I'm okay. If you really don't believe me you can even _meet _Ian. I'm managing. Son of the god of death here, I can handle these things." Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say." She said. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he held her tightly as they made their way out of Central Park.

Back at the hospital she was really pale and Nico noticed just how much the day had drained her. How exhausted she was. Had it been that which had knocked her into thinking about dying? About how horrible she felt?

She crashed in her bed with that angry, annoyed and pained look in her eyes that she got when her headaches crashed when she needed to be doing something- so always.

She tossed her scarf into the cardboard box, tried kicked off her sneakers but couldn't seem to make her feet clash. Nico pulled them off for her.

"Do you want me to get Crystal or Dr Squirt?" He asked.

"No, they know." Sarah said rubbing her eyes. "Just tired. Wasn't expecting you to be so lively. What kind of a child of Hades are you?"

"The kind who's energized by your smile." Sarah smiled. Tired, exhausted, forced smile.

"I did smile a lot today. Thanks Angel, that was fun." Nico nodded. He had fun too, even if he was worried about her now.

"There you are!" Dr Squirt said.

He hooked Sarah back to the IV and asked questions. How did it go, no monsters, did you do anything stupid, how are you feeling, why are you wet Sarah Barclay or do I not want to know…

Watching Dr Squirt check up on Sarah, Nico found himself wishing an old wish. He wished he could take care of Sarah and make her better. He wished he could take the brain tumours away, as well as everything else plaguing her right now. He wished there was a way, some place to poke her and make it all better, a magical remedy… But he knew there wasn't, and he knew that he couldn't make one appear in thin air.

Percy showed up and took Nico back to the apartment and Nico didn't talk the whole time unless Percy asked him something which he soon gave up on because he saw that Nico was thinking.

That moment in Central Park with Sarah had been a piece of heaven that he hadn't had in a long time. And it wasn't going to be the last.


	3. Chapter 3

**I said Monday but I can't ignore the plees of my friend who likes this (tee-hee!), so I think I'm just going to post twice a week from now on (just for you- and you know who you are). Monday and Thursday then, which means that the story will go by faster but, hey.**

**Disclaimer: Apparently its imposible to have my name changed to 'Rick Riordan', so I _still _don't own the Percy Jackson series- but I'm working on it. Just waiting for that package...**

* * *

><p>III<p>

_**November 30**_

Sarah was sound asleep which just didn't do in the books of Connor and Travis.

"We drive all the way from Sullivan and she's sleeping?" Connor muttered.

"That's just low." Travis said.

So Connor slipped his backpack off his shoulder, and took out a fresh roll of saran wrap.

"Mom doesn't really need this, right?" He asked.

"Of course not," Travis said, jumping to the other side of Sarah's bed. They passed the roll around and around, until Sarah was wrapped tightly to her bed.

The Stolls stood there admiring their handy work. A doctor came in, saw the patient, flashed them a thumbs up and left. Cool guy; he probably knew Sarah.

"Oh, okay I've got it; watch this." Travis told Connor.

He cleared his throat and sat down next to Sarah.

"Sarah… It's me, Nico, wake up." He said in a pretty good imitation of Nico's voice.

Sarah's hand raised and started patting his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for the snooze button- _Travis Stoll!_" Sarah said. Her eyes opened and she smiled.

"Even sleeping I can recognise my boyfriend's voice, and you two are quite unfortunately my brothers."

"Ouch…"

"Yeah common Sarah, you know you love us." Connor said, exchanging props with her.

"You're okay, Con-man. But Travis I really don't know about."

"Hey!"

"That's only because wrapping me to my bed was probably your idea entirely. Seriously, I see this thing enough without being tied to it."

"Booyah- she likes me better!" Connor said, ignoring Sarah's subtle way of 'get me out of here!'

"That's not nice Sarah."

"Okay- then I love you all equally." Sarah said in a sappy voice. "Did that just sound like Disney infected me or what?"

"Him too?"

"Ha-ha." Sarah said. "Aren't you hilarious? And pretty big-headed if you think that you're important enough to disturb my beauty sleep."

"Sarah, you're too far gone for that." Connor said.

"When you were 7 and really cute with the flicky hair and 3 missing teeth and you actually believed us when we said that Eros doubled up as the tooth fairy... That was reasonably cute. Then we got to know you and -like with any sibling-, it all went downhill."

"Like your intelligence?"

"At least I didn't try to drown a fish."

"At least I can recognise a fish from a mermaid."

"You're both stupid enough to die of hunger when you get locked into a grocery store." Connor said. Sarah threw him a pillow that nailed him in the face and pillows started flying across the room.

* * *

><p>By the time Nico showed up after school and math homework at a friend's, the conversation was already well onto the subject of the best distractions while pulling a prank, and there was a huge pile of saran wrap in the trash can- which he tried not to think about.<p>

"Again; it depends on the audience. If you tell Mr D that someone's floating face down in the canoe lake- he won't give a Styx. If you tell Chiron that a new corner store opened nearby and they carry Diet Cherry Coke- he won't- oh hi Nicolas." Connor said, with a French accent to the 'Nicolas'.

"Again;" Nico said, swinging his back and shoving it in the corner of the room. "Nico's not short for anything."

Connor and Travis Stoll- two idiots with blue eyes and brown mops of hair in their early twenties with the coolest bucket lists and hilarious personalities. Nico had pulled more than one great prank with the Hermes cabin since he'd started hanging out with Sarah, and he'd had so much fun with Connor and Travis it should be (and probably was) illegal.

"Besides, he's Italian." Sarah smiled, leaning up to kiss Nico, who then crashed on the windowsill of the room to watch. Watching Sarah and the Stolls altogether in a room was the best fun. Really, there should be a webcam in the Hermes cabin during free time because Nico knew from experience- it was hilarious to be around.

"Oh, so, Niccolò." Connor said.

"You sound like my English teacher." Nico said.

"Is that good or bad Nicholas?" Connor asked with a British accent on the 'Nicholas'.

"It's a teacher, moron." Travis said whacking him behind the head. Connor wacked him behind the head back, and on and on- and then Sarah wacked them both behind the dead, sais 'stopit' so it sounded like one quick word, and buried her head behind a pillow for cover.

Each Stoll grabbed a foot, pulled off a shoe and started tickling.

"Ah! Stop it! Stop it!" Sarah pleaded, laughing anyways. Nico always thought that was funny; you were begging someone to stop what they were doing while you were laughing- which was a sign of joy. But the one time that he'd ever mentioned it Sarah had started tickling him and now he knew.

"No one's gonna help you Sissy-Sarah, right Nico?" Travis said as Sarah thrashed around like a devil.

"Hmm… Don't think so."

"Nico di Angelo!" Sarah chided him- but it didn't quite work because she was laughing.

She laughed every time Connor and Travis showed up. That bugged Nico, just like half of the things on this planet did. She laughed but she coughed. She joked but she suffered. She was Sarah Barclay and acted like it but she died more each day.

* * *

><p>Nico was ready to do anything to stop that. Maybe that put his plan into action.<p>

Nico emerged from the shadows of the Underworld and into Persephone's garden. He gave the queen a fright and she gasped. She wore a dress made of flowers blooming one after the other, except drained of more than half their colors. Her dark hair was pulled back in a braid and she looked horrible. She'd just gotten back from summer and the tan she'd worked for the past 2 months on was_ long_ gone.

"Nico! What are you doing here?" She asked once she recognised the olive skin, black hair and dark, intense eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shadow-traveled with something else on my mind." Nico said.

"Don't do that! If you end up here more than you already do…" Nico wasn't going to put up with his stepmother so he just nodded and left without giving her a chance to protest at having a back turned to her. She'd live it down, Nico was sure. He didn't have much time to think about it.

It'd been about two days since he'd gotten the idea, November 28, to be precise. And he'd been going back and forth about it. Was it a good idea or plain stupid? Was it plain stupid worth doing or just plain stupid? Central Park had probably decided it for him. Having the best day in a long time with Sarah, and wishing like Hades it wouldn't be the last... Nico had to try to make it last. So he'd decided to go for it because he had nothing to lose. (well, yes he did, but shush).

He walked away from the gardens, and into the Underworld.

Right now; it wasn't the best place for Nico to be. He couldn't steer his thoughts away from the fact that Sarah would be here soon, in 2 months they'd told Nico. 2 months… At the most, they said, it could happen any time.

He passed Elysium and the Island of the Blest, half tempted to go visit some people he knew. Bianca, Beckendorf, Silena, Luke… He needed his sister right now, more than other times.

He walked right past, wondering if he'd ever be able to resist temptation to go there once Sarah was there. If she ended up there.

Maybe she'd go to the Isles of the Blest. Maybe she'd been Marie Curie or something in a past life. Okay, not Marie Curie but... Charlie Chaplin. Nico could totally see Sarah as a Charlie Chaplin rebirth.

As Nico heard the music thumping from it, he couldn't help thinking about just how well Sarah would fit in there. Like a puzzle piece straight in the center of the puzzle, completing the guy's face. A total party person, that girl was. Any party, anywhere, Sarah could make it better. She'd pull a joke, get people talking, voice that 'wow the music sucks…' comment that everyone thought but nobody said…

He had to follow a trail that led to the gates where Cerberus stood guard. The dog barked and inclined his head lower, and Nico stroked his muzzle. Cerberus was like a pet to Nico, which as weird as it sounded, was technically true. Cerberus coughed out a red rubber ball- which Nico replaced on a weekly bases for him. Or Sarah; Sarah loved Cerberus, and Cerberus loved her back.

"Not today, boy." Nico said. "Maybe later."

He followed the trail back to the North, cutting around the Judgement Pavilion like the guards only let you do if you're Hades' son, Hades' son's friend, or Hades' pizza guy.

Then he joined another road which went around the fields of punishment. Right as he walked past he heard one tortured soul screaming 'IT WAS JUST A CAR! A very pricy car but that's all I stole!'

Nico bit the inside of his cheek. When Sarah stole stuff she was messing around. Having fun, being playful, acting like Sarah. That wouldn't actually get her punished, right? She wouldn't end up sitting on a throne made of broken glass and red-hot metal wearing short shorts and a tank top while listening to polka music and tween stars forever, right?

"Do not worry Master Nico; for the car he speaks of had two children inside it, the crime was more abduction than theft, more kidnap than robbery." A voice mused. Nico turned around with a classic deer-in-the-headlights look, but he quickly recognised the speaker.

A woman in her early twenties wearing layered black dresses and tights. The dresses all ended above her ankles to show healed leather boots. There was a scarf with attached coins- from Greek, Renaissance, Roman and older times wrapped around her head of thin black curls. She had thin lips, low cheekbones and fine facial features.

"Lady Hecate," Nico said.

"Master Nico," Hecate said, always amused by his respect. "What wind carries you to these parts of the land? What motives incite you to explore? Do you not prefer the land of joy and blest, or the ruler's, your father's, palace?" She asked.

"I'm looking for someone." Nico asked.

Nico hoped Hecate wouldn't know what he was talking about. But Hecate was one of the goddesses who knew everything, just didn't tell much of it. She was god and titaness, and controlled what made humans dream and powered movies and literature. Magic and witchcraft and wizardry. She was excesively powerful and all the other gods knew it; none tried to contain her although the goddess was incited to obey some of them as long as they said their 'please' and 'thank you'. Hades being one; but he -even Zeus- held Hecate in a certain admiration. An admiration little myths mentioned. You learnt to respect the deity. She wasn't as touchy as the other gods tended to be, but she could be twice as bad to make up for it.

"Very well, Master Nico, child of the Lord. Be on your way, but spirits that are nor friendly nor forgiving live where you seek to wander. Nor are they helpful."

She knew.

She flashed Nico a closed-mouth smile, squeezed his shoulder, and erupted into a flock of ravens that flew around Nico, and off towards the river Styx.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. If Hecate had wanted to stop him she'd have done it now. She'd just warned Nico about something he already knew about. A risk he was willing to take for Sarah.

He made his way, taking a long detour to avoid Melinoe's cave. Melinoe would not hurt him while Hades had a good grip on the Underworld, but Nico wasn't ready to forget how she'd just turned into Maria di Angelo, just like that, and sent him bonkers. Melinoe wasn't ready to forget how Nico's friend had driven her off, so really they were both on a let's-just-not-talk-to-each-other base.

He also avoided Hypnos' cave, because the god of sleep tended to make Nico want to curl up and take a nap after he'd just spent a lot of energy- like after shadow traveling. He'd spoken to Hypnos a few times, for a few minutes at a time, but that was after a good night of sleep. He liked the sleeping god compared to some others; he made nice company when he was actually awake (say, 26% of the time).

But Nico needed to be all there right now, if he was going to accomplish anything with Hypnos' brother.

He finally got to his destination. Another cave. Most buildings in the Underworld were caves, but the gods down below often didn't care much about what the others, the day-walkers as some of them joked, thought about their habitats. Besides, if they were down here, they had bigger problems to begin with.

This cave was nothing bigger, nothing smaller than Hypnos'. Which made sense considering they were brothers.

A heavy black curtain, like on a stage, blocked off the entrance. It was pulled just enough for someone to pass through and there was dim light coming out.

The master sat on the step in front of the cave, butterflies with wings that seemed powdered in coal dust perched on his laps.

The god was an elderly man with silver streaking black hair and beard. And Nico didn't mean silver as a polite way of saying 'grey', it was genuine silver. His wrinkles were on a kind face, and around dark eyes. Long wings like a black angel's erupted from between his shoulder blades, and drooped as he was resting. He wore black pants and tunic, the later tightened with a silver Celtic looking belt from which hung a few keys.

"Lord Thanatos." Nico said approaching. Thanatos looked up and the legion of black butterflies fluttered away. They disappeared into smoke and reminded Nico of Hecate and her ravens.

"Nico di Angelo… A pleasant surprise, my boy, a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Nico knelt to Thanatos.

"I think we both know, my Lord." Nico said. He looked up at the god and he nodded.

"A kind soul she is. Mischievous at times, but with a heart golden and in the right place, golden and in the right place. A kind, kind soul Sarah Barclay…"

"So you do know Sarah?"

"A kind soul, yes."

"Sir," Nico said. "The fates are snipping at her life string right now. Surely you can spare her. Give her more time. She doesn't deserve a violent death."

"And a violent death is not what she'll get," Thanatos said.

"She'll die in pain, my Lord. She's hurting as we speak and she'll even… She'll even… _Die _hurting."

"A child of Hades, tripping on a form of the word death…" Thanatos mused.

"Lord Thanatos, she doesn't deserve…"

"My boy, I have already said this, but she will not receive a violent death." Thanatos insisted.

"Which is why you know her," Nico said. "Because of you being the god of non-violent death?"

"Partially." Thanatos admitted.

"What's the other reason?"

"We Underworld gods and creatures and spirits we… We talk to each other. There aren't many of us and we are all quite close." Thanatos said. "Quite close… While the Olympians bask and squabble and have their fun under the sunlight, we unify and function here. A small little family we are, but a family never the less. The afterlife is a complicated thing, my boy, a complicated thing. Despised by many, and I have a strong feeling that you might be inching towards their ranks my boy, a strong feeling… But it is necessary. Even a relief to some. The structure is complex and simple at the same time, and I am only a pillar of the temple."

"Does that mean you aren't responsible for Sarah's passing?"

"Nico, Nico… From Lord Hades to Lady Hecate and the spirits and powers in between; none of us control death. We can advance it or cause it if we try, but then again so could you if you picked up a sword and decided to run a man through. We can control the dead, we can even take power from shadows and rock, some of us even can. But control death? Fully? Ultimatly? No, my boy. We are like assigned what we have power over, like an assignment… Those are the higher powers. Those who set the lines that the rest of us cannot pass, the lines…"

"Higher powers? What do you mean 'higher powers'?" Nico asked.

"Higher powers, beings with control over everything and nothing at once." Thanatos mused. "My point is child, even if I were the one controlling your love's passing, I wouldn't be able to stop it any more than Hephaestus or Artemis could."

"What do you mean?"

"I am not the one you seek. Her death will not be violent, but it is not natural Nico, her death… I thought a boy like you would be able to know."

"She's dying Thanatos. It's like a part of me is slipping away too- right and left are blurring together and I can't get her out of my head. I need your help." Nico begged. Smoke butterflies gathered on Nico's shoulders.

"I am helping you Nico, I am." Thanatos said softly. "A death not violent, but a death not natural is a death by what? Her death?"

"Illness."

"Yes. And I am not the ruler of that, I am not." Thanatos mused. He got up and squeezed Nico's shoulder.

"She is a good soul and you are a good boy. I wish I could help you, but I am not the master of death. I am just a god."

"Who is the master of death, then? My father?"

"Yes, but you know he will not stop it. And even some deaths he would rather not happen have happened, all for the good of humanity and law."

"Mama… Bianca…"

"Yes." Thanatos said. "It makes your father one of the bravest gods that the bards have ever sung of, that makes him."

"Okay. Thank you for your time, Thanatos." Nico bowed to the old man. He left Thanatos sitting on his steps and looking at the scenery, and paced.

Non-violent death might not be what awaited Sarah, but illness was. And there were spirits for that too.

Nico'd met them once or twice, but he hadn't particularly been keen to meeting them again since he'd found out about Sarah's illness, a little more than a year ago. He knew where to find them of course, but he didn't like it.

He approached a kind-of gravel pit, with spikes planted around the circumference, to keep visitors out mostly. Nico looked inside and saw 20 or so small old ladies, bent so horribly that they were as high as Nico's waist. They had unhealthy looking skin, drooping grey dreadlocks, twisted faces with pug noses and mean baggy eyes. They wore ripped grey dresses, tattered with blood in various stages of drying. They ran around the pit bumping into each other and speaking in a rough and tough sounding language of throat sounds. It looked like what people imagined as demon gatherings.

"Excuse me." Nico said. Not in the polite 'can I have your attention?' way, but in the definite 'I'm being all nice guy but listen to me now' way.

The demons froze and looked up to Nico. One of them detached herself from the group and said something in their Ancient language. She raised her hand and a few spikes tumbled, and a slide formed under Nico's feet. He slid, and rolled when he reached the bottom. He managed to twist himself so he was on one knee, which was way more impressive than just falling like a sack of potatoes. He drew the Stygian Iron sword and got to his feet.

"I am Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades." Nico declared. The same demon as earlier stepped forth.

"Son of Hades in our domain… Son of Hades who knows our name…"

"Of course I know your name," Nico said. "We've spoken before. I was younger."

"The small little boy with his strange cards and game… They were in his pocket and he didn't speak their name…" Another one said.

"I _was_ 10, wasn't I?" Nico recalled. "The first time I met you."

"A little boy, with everythigng lost, and ready to get it back at any cost."

"You were trying to hold your world together as you were so troubled, but now it looks like the emotions have doubled."

"I come asking a favour."

"The child of our Lord wishes for assistance? But he knows we bear nor sword nor lance."

"That's not why I need you," Nico said. "Not at all. You are the Nosoi, right?"

"That is our name in the ancient tale… But through the years mortals have lost our trail…"

"They confuse us with the Keres who share our tasks and weigh our burdens and the whole regalia."

"But they have not risen from the box of Pandora."

"But I know about you. I know where you're from and what you do. I come asking for help, I come asking you to spare someone. Someone I love. Someone that the world is going to lose- that I'm going to lose… It's too soon for her. The world can't lose her just yet, she can't pass to this kingdom."

"Everyone does sooner or later," one said.

"Any other, of life is a traitor."

"I know that. I know she'll die anyways, but she's 16, Nosoi, 16." Nico pleaded. Underworld gods didn't understand death as well as humans. They were surrounded by it and soon it was normal, painless, and even routine. They didn't understand how everyone in the sunlight world felt about death, or have any idea how much it could shatter your world and twist your heart around like a game of Twister.

_Right hand- grief. Left hand- anger. Right foot- sadness. Left hand- loneliness._

"Some die young with their names clear. Others wait old to disappear." One said.

"There is no aid we can bring to you."

"If the cord is snapped there's nothing to do." Her sister said.

"When all is said and done and dust has settled, you will see we couldn't have mingled."

"This affair is out of our reach," another said.

"We approved it once and may not retreat."

"So you're saying no?" Nico verrified, hoping he was just confused by their rhymes.

"Are you planning on following threat to that saying? Because with those who insult us half-blood, there is no playing." The leader growled menacingly.

"No, of course not! I wouldn't insult you, Nosoi. I thought that you were the spirits of illness and plague, you could help her as well as me, but I understand. Thank you."

Nico stepped back in the shadow and didn't will himself anywhere, he just thought 'out'.

Because no; he most certainly did not understand. He didn't. He was a Child of the Big 3; he was supposed to have powers that made superheroes sit up and beg. He was supposed to be able to help people and win fights. He wasn't a flashy guy like Thalia or Percy who could double up to Wonder Woman and Aqua Man, so what could he do? Apparently he couldn't even do something for someone. Apparently he couldn't control what his home turf was supposed to be.

He understood the laws of death. He'd been taught them and he'd watched them, studied them and he understood why they were there. Why we couldn't have everyone alive forever. Because the planet would go on overload, there had to be a balance between the good guys and the bad guys dying and death was a way of cleansing- taking out bad people from a world that could be good.

But this just annoyed him. His powers weren't the most useful, and he was doubting himself, his powers just because of this now. Because of this huge flaw. Could there be no exceptions? It wasn't just him losing in this. It was Sarah who had so much on her to-do-when-I'm-let-loose-around-the-world (it was stapled to her cardboard scarf box), for Alena Hartney, Simone Barclay because she _had _to care about Sarah somewhere in there, Connor and Travis Stoll, and the legions of people that Sarah had made laugh and touched in any other way. For the legions of people more who would have been touched, hysterical or freaked out if it weren't for this; the law of no exception.

That's when he saw through his frustration and sorrow and saw where he was.

Styx.


	4. Chapter 4

VI

It was the dining room of Hades' palace and apparently Nico was interrupting something. What time was it even? Suppertime? Crud- he hadn't told Percy he was leaving. Oh well, he'd figure it out.

It would've been okay if it was just Hades, Persephone and a handful of Underworld gods or valuable souls of interesting people or heroes as usual. He'd say hi, apologise for busting in, and they'd let him leave unless something was going on. But no. There was Demeter too.

"Oh look, there he is!" She said when she saw Nico. "Come sit down, you're way too thin. Is Dionysus starving you kids again?"

Nico cursed in his mind a million miles an hour. He didn't want to deal with Demeter and other underworld gods right now.

_Not right now, any other time and I'll deal with twice the cereal talk, I'll even eat the stuff if she asks, please…_ Nico prayed. Then he noticed that Hades seemed to feel the exact same way, meaning this wasn't something optional for either one of them- or Persephone. A hate of cereal unified Hades, Persephone and Nico as the small shaky family that they were. But the second any trace of multi-grain produce was gone they were back at point A.

"No Ma'am. I'm not at camp anyways." Nico said.

"Really? Are you back at living here? You can't get enough vitamins or fibre here, or exercise. Dionysus at least puts you in the strawberry fields- farming builds character whether it's behind a plough or squatting in a field picking berries with your back to the hot sun."

"I'm living in New York with Percy." Nico said.

"City boy, are you? Odd, you seemed to like Camp Half-Blood from what I've heard of you." Nico clenched his jaw and looked at Hades like 'help me, or I'll punch her'. Coping with Demeter was something they helped each other pull through. One of those moments where Nico actually felt like he had a dad, even if it was while standing an aunt.

"Circumstances have changed, Demeter. By those same circumstances Nico needs to leave right now." Hades said.

"Nonsense, the boy has time for a bowl of cereal! Don't you Nico?"

"No."

"Yes, now sit down." Demeter said. Nico sat down, being very clear that he didn't want to be here with a blank look on his face and half-dropped eyelids. A bowl of cereal appeared right in front of him.

"I'm allergic to cereal." Nico tried.

"No you're not, eat." Nico picked up his spoon and ate a spoonful of the stuff.

"I'm allergic to the spoon."

"Nico di Angelo! It seems that Percy Jackson's attitude is rubbing off onto you." Demeter said.

"This is 100% me," Nico said. "Percy wished he had my charming attitude."

"How exactly did you end up living with that boy, anyways? Does he feed you right? Not pizza every night, unless the crust is whole wheat and toppings natural, of course." Nico locked his jaw.

"I'm eating fine."

"Well then stop being so thin!"

"It's hereditary! It's not my fault I'm a stick with legs!" Nico said.

"Nico." Hades snapped.

"Can I please go home?" He asked. "I'm really tired."

"There's sugar on the cereal because you youth of today are only interested in stuffing yourselves with food that you can squeeze the grease from and see the sugar pile on. That helps the computer generation you're part of."

_Yeah right, my generation is dead, Lady. _

"Tempting- but I'm really okay." Nico said, now desperate to leave.

Demeter never forgot an asked question and it was one that Nico couldn't answer. Why was he in New York? No, he couldn't. Not after his failure. Not after he'd just realised he –the son of the Lord of the dead- was utterly useless to a dying girl.

Demeter shot him a look and soon they were all eating cereal.

"Nico you didn't mention, why did you go live with Percy Jackson?" Nico locked his jaw and his hands balled into fists so his knuckled turned white.

"I followed a friend." He said.

"Your friend," Demeter said. "Who would that be?"

"Sarah Barclay." Nico said.

"Daughter of Hermes?" Demeter asked. That's when Nico realised he was screwed, he should've said like 'Elle Merfud' or something and hoped that Demeter didn't know about every demigod. Or Looney Tunes. Because _no way_ a child of Hermes would willingly ship themselves from Camp to school. That was crazy talk.

"Yes." Nico said. He wondered if the room was lit dimly enough so he could shadow travel from his seat and come back in 20 years when Demeter would have lived it down. He doubted it was. He wondered if it was done on purpose.

"At school?" Demeter asked. "Unlike a child of Hermes, but we are surrounded by exceptions, yes? Is she much different from her siblings? A kleptomaniac like the rest?"

"Yes," Nico said immediately.

"And she's at school?" Nico shifted his weight and ate his cereal. Maybe if he was good she'd leave him alone. He should work on cutting his hair, now.

"Nico?" Demeter asked. Oh he got it… She was trying to make it back to those little cookie-cutter family moments that happened, like, once a year, where they could all stand each other. Nico wasn't in the mood for family right now, or people. Except for Sarah. He really wanted to see Sarah right now.

"She's not in the city for school." Nico said softly and very quietly. If she didn't hear it, it might not be carved in stone as a to-happen and he wouldn't repeat it.

"Family?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Then what?" Demeter asked. The question wasn't rude or annoying –Demeter had her moments where she stopped nagging, then she was decent and Nico actually listened to her- it was sincere, maybe a little even worried.

"She's terminally ill with lung cancer and brain tumours, there's nothing anyone can do and I really should be with her right now." Nico said just as quietly.

Demeter's eyes softened and her lips parted like half a jaw drop. She frowned and turned to look at Hades and Persephone accusingly. Hades shot her a look, Persephone looked at Nico with maybe a little pity and he got tired of this.

"Well, thanks for the cereal; I've got to go now."

Nico sprinted towards the shadow before any of them could stop him, grab his arm, apologise.

Because they weren't sorry.

If they wouldn't save Sarah they were not sorry.

He jumped in the shadows, thought 'New York' because he'd learnt his lesson with random shadow traveling, and landed in his room. It was 2 in the afternoon New York time apparently.

Nico wandered out of his room. Percy and Annabeth weren't there, but there was a note stuck on the fridge.

_No clue where you are or when you're coming back, I called your school you're off the hook (you have pneumonia), food in the fridge_

_-Percy _

'Pneumonia' had a million spelling errors in it (he thought) but Nico was grateful to Percy for this. It was cold enough –so cold it should be snowing by now- so the excuse made sense (ish).

He grabbed a container with spaghetti leftovers from the fridge and passed it around his hands. He put it back, he wasn't hungry.

He found a pen and wrote on Percy's note,

_ Came back, see Sarah- Nico_

He threw a jacket on, zipped it up to the very top because it was _that _cold, swung his backpack onto his shoulder and went out.

The wind was bitter and cold, like a whip made out of ice. Nico thought that if it was a whip, he deserved every hit.

He took the subway and looked at the people around him. When you're so quiet, you tend to look at the loud people. Like the guy talking on his phone super loudly, about his promotion and the importance of his position; or those teenage girls with the fuzzy mittens and coffees? Laughing their heads off, having a good time. They made Nico think of Sarah and her best friend; Alena Hartney.

She lived at camp, but came to the city whenever they could get a ride or Mr D let her come. Nico had shadow-traveled her over once. He should probably do that again at some point. Maybe the next day Sarah had no radiation treatment- that'd be Wednesday… He'd IM Alena later.

He got off a stop early, deciding that he should walk a bit. He'd been in the underworld and he didn't want Sarah to know, and she always could. She said it was the way his eyes reacted to light- it was more violent after he'd just been to the Underworld. He had no idea how she saw it, but he was hoping he could walk it off.

People walked fast, pulling their jackets and coats over their faces, looking down, hands pushed deep into their pockets. Nico was used to cold- he already felt cold inside. Like he was helping the fates snip that string by not doing anything to stop them.

He was thankful when he got into the hospital because the activity distracted him from his own. He got to the oncology ward- where the mood was pretty cheerful. Thanks to the doctors and nurses, and some of the patients like Sarah, they had some good days where you could see a smile on a lot of faces- like the day Dr Squirt had sat on those squirts- a lot of people had smiled even if they were sick.

But today, it looked as if they were decorating for Christmas.

"A tall dude!" A little boy –maybe 6 years old- with a Spiderman bandana covering his head said. "Hey dude- can you hang that up there?" He asked Nico. He and his friend were holding a chain of red and green paper rings.

"Sure," Nico said. He took his end. "Where? Here?" He asked holding it high up.

"Higher!" He said. Nico stood on his toes to reach higher.

"Here?"

"Higher!" Nico reached higher, not sure if he could hold it.

"Perfect! Tape it!" The other little boy said. He stuck a piece of tape on one of Nico's fingers. Nico did and got the other end up too.

"Cool! Thanks dude!"

"No problem." Nico said.

"Common, let's go tell Crystal we did it!" The kid with the Spiderman bandana said.

Dr Squirt was holding up a little girl wearing a neon green wig up so she could hang a paper snowflake from the roof. He was wearing a Santa Claus hat.

"Are you sure it's really tapped on, Lindsay?"

"Yes Doctor Squirt." Lindsay said. Dr Squirt put her down.

"Nice hat, Doc." Nico said. Squirt turned around and smirked a fake smirk.

"Thanks Nico. I'm sure Sarah will make you wear one too."

"Sure, that'll work."

"If you're looking for her, she's in someone's room. She's walking around with her IV, paper and scissors making snowflakes with those who can't come and decorate. It's really sweet of her." Dr Squirt said.

"Thanks Doc."

"Hey tall dude!" Someone called. It was the guy with the Spiderman bandana.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. We need your help again."

"Oh sure, another chain?"

"Yeah, we made like 20 with Cassidy and Lindsay before Crystal told us that we didn't need all of them." The second boy said.

"Clay, that's Nico, not 'tall dude'. Nico, this is Clay, and his friend here is Tommy." Dr Squirt introduced before bringing Lindsay back to her room.

Nico spent some time with Clay and Timmy, hanging up the chains high up. Patients came in and out to find a nurse to hang paper snowflakes they'd made from the ceiling, give him some more chains or tinsel garlands to hang since he was pretty tall, or go find someone to show their decorations to.

And it wasn't just the little kids. The Children's Oncology ward had kids from 2 to 18, and it seemed that everyone was in the Christmas spirit today. December 1st; you had to love it… Everyone who could walk was decorating and the rest were trying to talk their ways out of their rooms or colouring in bed. Either that, or smiling and humming Christmas carols.

Clay and Tommy stuck with Nico a lot to make sure he hung it just like they would've.

"One day I'm going to be tall enough to hang garlands in the wards." Tommy declared.

He and Clay both had to leave at some points for rest or chemo or something, but they always found Nico- who finally found Sarah.

She was hooked to her IV and she was wearing street clothes again- jeans and a yellow hoody, a scarf with small ducks and soap bubbles wrapped around her head. She was with a little girl with brown eyes, helping her colour a picture of Santa Clause's sleigh.

"What colour should the reindeer be?" The little girl asked.

"Any colour you like. What about blue?" Sarah suggested.

"But reindeers aren't blue!"

"Haven't you ever seen a blue reindeer?" Nico asked from the doorframe. Sarah looked up and grinned.

"Hey Angel," Sarah said. "Cassidy, this is my friend Nico. Can you show him the pretty picture you drew?" Cassidy nodded enthusiastically and showed Nico a picture of a Christmas tree with a big yellow star on the top.

"Wow! Did you do that by yourself?" Nico asked. Cassidy grinned bright and nodded.

"I don't believe you, I think an artist made it." Nico said. Cassidy grinned brighter showing two missing teeth and looked at Sarah with the little kid equivalent of 'OMG!'

"You tell Nico you're the artist in here." Sarah said. Cassidy smiled again and went back to her drawing. Nico kissed Sarah on the cheek.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel great!" Sarah said, "Like a million bucks!"

"That's good." Nico said.

"I've been walking around making stuff for the whole day, nearly. Cutting out snowflakes, asking the nurses to raid the building for tape, showing the twins of terror how to make chains…"

"Clay and Tommy?"

"Oh you've met them?" Sarah said.

"Yeah, ask them about 'tall dude' later." Sarah snickered.

"Was this your idea? To decorate?"

"Nah, it was Maddy's idea. She said that yesterday; her folks brought the construction paper over and printed out the colouring pages. She's not doing well today though; she hasn't been able to come see everything. I was going to go see her when Cassidy was done colouring. Hang it up and go check on her."

They chatted a bit while Cassidy finished. Sarah cracked jokes and made puns, she used gestures and sound effects like she always did… She only coughed every now and then. Nico could nearly make everything around them disappear and make believe that they were at camp. She was so… Alright. Fine. How could she be dying?

The conversation slipped to and from Cassidy who was busy and full-focused on her colouring.

"Sarah honey, it's time for Cassidy to rest a bit." The nurse called Crystal said, poking in.

"Right." Sarah started coughing and Crystal came forwards concerned.

"I'm good, I'm great, no blood I swear." She said.

"I think you're overdoing it, Sar." Crystal suggested sweetly.

"Me? Pssh, nah, I'm fine. I'm okay."

"Time to go rest. Everyone is, that was an exciting day. I've never seen as many people in the ward doing one thing together. You've done a good job at motivating everyone Sarah, but now it's time for you. Kay sweetheart?"

"Guess so."

"Common," Nico said. "See you Cassidy."

"Bye tall dude." Cassidy said. Sarah snickered and Nico smiled to himself. Oh great, he'd been renamed.

Sarah lay down in her bed and pulled the covers over her.

"You okay?" Nico asked.

"Sleepy." She said.

"Okay, I'll let you sleep in a second, just one thing- do you want me to bring Alena here next Wednesday?"

"Alena?"

"Yes. Alena Hartney… Best friend, girl, face..? Her?"

"Yeah." Sarah said. Her lips smiled as she fell asleep right there. "That'd be really nice." Nico kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams Sar, I'll make it happen."

"Love you, Corpse breath."

"Love you too." Nico said.

He crept out of Sarah's room and said goodbye to Doctor Squirt who was looking at an angel holding a candle that a little kid had scribbled in blue.

"They did a good job at decorating, didn't they? Everyone had a hand in it. Coloring, cutting and gluing the strips of paper, hanging…"

"That would be me." Nico mumbled. Doctor Squirt smiled.

"You know you liked it." He said.

"Well… Yes, I did." Nico said.

"It's been a long time since there's been so much life and happiness in here. Since the Easter egg hunt. It makes it seem so much better for all of them, like even if they do die out they'll have lived a little bit more." Doctor Squirt said, deep in his own thoughts. Nico nodded, but the ghosts of what he'd been told were streaming through his mind.

[i]Some die young with their names clear. Others wait old to disappear.

I wish I could help you, but I am not the master of death. I am just a god.[/i]

Nico looked at all the doors of the Child Oncology ward. Clay with the Spiderman bandana, Cassidy with her two front teeth missing and grinning because Nico liked her drawing… All of them. Even the kids he hadn't seen or talked to- because he'd talked to a lot more people than usual that day.

"Good evening Tall Dude." Dr Squirt said squeezing Nico's shoulder.

"Good evening Doctor Squirt."

Nico waited for Percy near the elevator of the underground parking lot. He jumped in when Percy rolled to half-a-stop nearby.

"Where the Hades were you?" Percy asked.

"Places." Nico said. "Here. They were decorating for Christmas. I was one of the suckers stuck tapping the things that had to go high up or hanging the snowflakes tapped to string from the ceiling. Not a bad day."

"Awe, Nico's got the Christmas spirit…"

"Shut up Kelp for Brains."

"If you feel the urge to burst out into Christmas carols Nico, really don't bottle it up; I'm sure you have amazing vocal skills somewhere in there." Percy said. Nico hit him in the arm and Percy laughed.

"So where the heck were you?" Nico asked.

"School. Work. A fantastic combination that I really would love to avoid."

"Sucker, you're the adult." Nico said. Percy punched at Nico without keeping his eyes off the road.

"And I'm the one who's in charge of you legally right now, so you should be way nicer to me."

"Nope." Nico said popping the 'p'.

"Think of all the mean things I can do."

"Think of all the mean things I could do back. Face it, no matter what my record at school or Chiron says, you're not really in charge of me."

"Okay, maybe, but no more going to freakish places without telling me. Would it have killed you to?"

"Yes."

"Just write a note or yell it out before shadow-traveling. You know I don't really care where you go and I don't stop you, so just so someone has a clue where you're at."

"I'll tell Annabeth."

"Why?"

"Because she can't stop me seeing as she doesn't live nearby."

"You seriously suck sometimes."

"Thanks, I aim for that."

That night Nico kept a promise to Sarah and went through homework.

First off; he IM'ed Alena at camp.

She was recovering from Capture-the-flag, sitting at the Central Green with her boyfriend Julio Delahantry, a son of Demeter that Nico didn't really talk to, and his friend Erik Cryer- a son of Aphrodite that nobody really liked and that got teased to the full potential of his name.

He wrapped an ace bandage again and again around her wrist, and Alena was talking about something that had to do with bugs (which she loved) to Julio.

"Alena." He said. They turned to look at him.

"Hey, look it's Nico di Angelo!" Alena said. "How you doing? How's Sarah doing? Is she feeling okay even if –well- yeah, whatever."

"Sarah's doing okay. She was sleeping when I left; she helped them decorate the whole ward for Christmas." Nico said.

"Oh that's cool." Erik said.

"Why you calling? You missed us?" Alena said.

"Not a chance, you guys are nuts."

"Says Sarah's boyfriend." Alena said.

"Do you want to shadow-travel to New York on Wednesday? She'd really like that." Nico said.

"Oh really Nico? That's sweet! Thank you so much! I'll meet you at Zeus' fist at 2:45, what about it? You finish school at 2:30, right?"

"Why do you know everything?" Nico asked. Alena stuck her tongue out.

"Just meet me there, and tell Sarah I'm coming, okay?"

"Sure thing." Nico said, before the IM was cut.

Second: homework.

A page of math that nearly completely killed his brain and that English assignment, the yucky one about emotions again. Nico purposely avoided the 1 ½ inch binder while scanning his bag. A sign to have a parent or tutor to sign for a field trip to the Art museum…

Art was better than math even if Nico had had it shoved down his throat by Rachel.

Nico wandered out of his room yelling out, 'hey Percy, you're my legal tutor, right?' but he heard Percy talking and shut up. He peaked into the kitchen and saw Chiron sitting at the Pinochle table on the Big House porch, the setting sun tinting the sky odd colors and casting long and narrow shadows on the ground behind him.

"Yeah, he sees her a lot, but he still does his homework and sees people, and trains."

"How is he handling the news about her?"

"I don't know. He's not really 'expressive' is he? He got better, I think. He calmed down a bit but not over it I think."

"Of course not, Percy." Chiron chided. "Be patient with him. He's living through something very hard."

"Well, it's not like I see him around that much. I'm food, shelter, chauffeur service, and when he needs me to sign something or show up for teacher meetings."

"Nico's got an independent streak."

"Hey, was I complaining?" Percy said. "I don't know, I just wish I could help him."

"You are, Percy. You're giving him the chance to see Sarah; you're letting him deal with this on his own. Until Nico realises he's not alone, that's all you can do."

"When's that going to happen?"

"Percy, you're mistaking me for an encyclopaedia on demigods."

"Well, you basically are."

"Yes, but you're all different. You all deal with things differently, you all live differently, come from different places and your paths are all different." Chiron said. Percy nodded.

"So- keep it like it is?"

"Yes. How is Sarah?"

"She's good. Funny, stealing stethoscopes from doctors, cracking jokes- you know, being Sarah Barclay. I think that bugs Nico. She's so herself he can't wrap his mind around the fact that it'll change."

"Probably right… How is she doing?"

"She was up and about today, doesn't seem too traumatised from what Nico tells me."

"Hmm…" Chiron nodded. "And you? How's Annabeth?"

Nico retreated back to his room.

Really? Really guys? They were seriously watching over him to make sure poor wittle Nico wasn't emotionally scarred or whatnot while they should be worrying about Sarah?

Maybe they did have a point, some part of him said. Maybe he was taking this worse than Sarah. Was it so hard to accept the fact that she was being ripped from his life like Bianca, his mother, and everyone else he'd ever truly loved?

Yes.

No; they had no point, they were making a fuss out of nothing. Nico's eyes unconsciously drifted to the 1 ½ inch binder, then back.

Percy and Chiron shouldn't be worrying about him. He could deal with himself, he could deal with that ward and the people inside it, he could deal with Sarah dying on him when they'd promised nothing could ever separate them. When they'd promised that they'd always have each other. They'd been best friends, and that wouldn't change because they were a couple. The memory always comforted him, because things had gone up, down, down, down and up again.

And she remembered the first day that Nico kissed her.

It was late at night, and the light came from the glowing green flames of cabin 13, Apollo and Artemis' cabins and the light from cabin 12, who'd thrown any 'no, we're not having a party right now, why would you think that?' precautions out of the window for the last one of the year.

Everyone was bussing or taxiing or whatever back to the City the next day. Mr D seemed to still have a bit of his former not-sober-self inside of him, and was letting it fly. Chiron just knew better than to stop them now. He was going to let the demigods have their fun (which they were).

It was the year after the Titan War, but you wouldn't guess that by the atmosphere of camp. Camp was like it always was. The summer night was cool and a nice breeze was blowing through camp. It brushed and ruffled the leaves on the trees and turned the rusty bronze eagle weather vane on the Big House. It disturbed some monster who howled in the woods.

Not very many people had snuck out of the party. For one; Cabin 12 parties were the stuff that Camp talked about for a record of 1130 years, and not-a-hiding-party was the stuff of legend. If you missed something, it would suck to say 'no, I wasn't there when they put the 2L of coke with Mentos down someone's pants, I was walking on the beach'.

But Nico and Sarah had. They were sitting on the roof of Hades' house which gave them a good view of Camp. They heard the music thumping from the party and they heard voices. The door was flung open, inviting everyone 13 and up inside. A child of Mars (who'd probably lost a game of rock-paper-scissors or I'll-swing-my-sword-and-whoever-I-hit-loses) was standing outside chasing away the little kids who wanted in.

There actually wasn't anything PG13 in there, but it made everyone feel special (especially the newly-turned-13-year-olds, like Sarah and Nico, although they were used to these parties- when your closest friend is the closest sister of the Stoll brothers you get places. Cool places).

Sarah was lying down with her feet propped in the gutter. She was a pro at keeping her balance on roofs; she'd spent a lot of time on roofs for various reasons. Nico was sitting up, and the way the moonlight flashed on her relaxed face, the way part of it was still in the shadows… It made Nico realise that she really was cute.

"You're sure this is allowed?" He asked.

"No," Sarah said. "What do you think I was doing during the Orientational film? Listening? Please," she said. Nico smiled.

"Okay, what _were _you doing?" Nico asked.

"I was digging out the foam from the couch, which children of Hermes have been doing forever."

"But… The couch in that room is stuffed… Fully..."

"You figure that one out, di Angelo." She said propping herself on her forearms.

"I rather not, thanks."

Sarah laughed. "Do you want to know? I think you're macho enough to find out."

"Please no." Nico said.

"Oh common! There's less than 9 legs to it too…"

"Stop talking." Nico said shaking his head, with a smile on his face.

"Make me." Sarah challenged. And just like that Nico kissed her.

He was surprised. She was surprised. Then she relaxed and kissed him back, then he realised he was kissing Sarah Barclay. He got super happy and finally their lips separated and they starred at each other, and Sarah had a shy smile. Nico was pretty sure the one on his lips was a million times worst.

"Well that's one way of doing it," Sarah joked. "I like it a lot better than duct tape."

They'd hung out for the rest of the evening until the party dissipated at, like, 2 in the morning when Chiron made with warning that every staff member of the staff couldn't sleep and that they'd probably die if they kept going.

Sure, it had been the awkward stage after that. They were skirting around each other- wondering if they were expected by the other to hold hands, kiss again or what.

Finally in about March after that, Sarah stalked up to Nico when he was alone trying to figure out where to hide so he'd escape dinner and therefore the campfire, and said 'Are you going to kiss me, or am I going to kiss you, because not being around you is hell, corpse breath'. He kissed her again (which answered the question), but Connor so-happened to be sitting in a nearby maple tree, and even by Camp Half-Blood standards the news traveled fast and everybody knew and blah, blah, blah. That sealed the deal, which Nico and Sarah did with a kiss. And it hadn't changed much since.

Until 2 years ago. They were 15 then. 17 now. They'd been past the friend stage for 4 years, but 2 of them were spent in a hospital. He wondered if those still counted. They should count twice as much for Sarah still making the energy to see him, Nico thought. But that would be it apparently; 4 years.


	5. Chapter 5

V

**_December 2nd _**

Sarah's nose was pressed to the window, her breath fogging it up. She might've been 17 years old but watching the fluffy white snowflakes fall from the sky amazed her like a little girl. She had her arm out, connected to an IV. Today her scarf was full of stickmen standing in pools varying of blood, guts and body parts. She sat in an armchair, her feet were propped on the scarf box. Nico stood there, watching her eyes brighten with every falling flake.

"Hey baby," Nico said coming in. "Have you really been starring at snow for the past 9 hours?" Sarah turned to face him and made a face.

"Funny hell on wheels, hilarious. And no, I've done other stuff." She said. She kissed his cheek as he sat down next to her, and she turned back to the window.

Sarah loved the wintertime, especially in the city. She didn't like the city, but in Winter, New York was steel and cement and snow. Oh, and slush. Never forget slush. Sarah had had _way_ too much fun with slush to ever forget it. In movies they never mention that snow makes slush and it becomes grey on roadsides, but it does. Those are the ugly sides of snow, but Sarah insisted that snow made the City seem brighter and more with nature. But she loved slush too.

"I wish I could go out there." Sarah sighed. "Snowball fights, snow men, snow gladiators, sledding down half-blood hill with the sled the Athena kids made to go aerodynamic… Gods, I love winter."

"Don't expect me to fight to get you out there," Nico said. "We sat down next to a fountain and I got home dripping wet. I know the unnatural power of your snowballs."

"Yeah, they're pretty sick…" Sarah mused. "Well, maybe I'm too out of practice…"

"Impossible Sar, you're born with the knowledge of the perfect snowball."

"-But I know they wouldn't let me. Not today anyways. I'm walking all crooked again, my balance is Styx. Stupid brain." Sarah said. When she was frustrated Sarah used to blow her bangs out of her eyes. Now her hair had fallen out so there was no bangs flying, but she still blew upwards like she did- but she started coughing this time.

"Stupid lungs too, while I'm at it. Anyways, are your teachers going all 'Ho, ho, ho!' on you?"

"It's December 2nd, Sar. Not everyone's infested with Christmas spirit yet. But Percy's expecting me to start bellowing Christmas carols at a moment's notice, if that helps."

"That's so fun! Especially in the middle of July! You just break out 'CHISTMAS SONG NEEDED!' and everyone looks at you like you're nuts!"

"You _are _nuts Sarah!"

"I know and it's fun!" She said. "I don't know how you stand not being. But then again, you're not exactly normal."

"Thanks," Nico snickered. Sarah smiled but it was the Sick Sarah Smile. Tired, exhausted, forced.

"Rest today. Maybe tomorrow they'll let you out to go knock yourself out with the snow."

"You think that's scientifically possible taking the laws of nature into account?"

"No but if one person were to try, it'd have to be you." Nico said. Sarah made a face and the nurse she called Big Bertha came in. She had no neck, arms like a Styx scary combination of Chuck Norris and Clarisse Larue. Her brown hair was a tight mass of loops and braids.

"Common Sarah, Doctor Labrador would like to see you," She said with a thick accent that Nico couldn't place. She called Doctor Squirt by his actual name- that just showed how much fun she was.

Sarah took Nico's hand.

"Wait for me?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Finish a Ken-ken; they're not so bad I promise!" She said. "My book's somewhere in the scarf box because Clay decided he was hilarious when he came to show me his snowflake, so good luck finding it."

"You can handle the puzzles; I've got homework." Nico said. Sarah kissed his cheek and Big Bertha got her in a wheelchair out of the room and down to the Radiation Oncology.

Nico zipped open his bag, and took out what he'd stuffed in his bag after each class. It was something that the school counsellor for students A-G had told him to do; put all the homework he got in his bag after every class so he'd bring it home either way.

He pulled out his history binder and wrote down an excuse for a big war in which some important guy died. Nico wasn't even sure which one. He'd been doodling snowflakes the whole class; he saw the snow through class windows –which he was in a perfect spot to look out at- and he kept thinking about how much Sarah would like it. The snow was sticky too; it stuck onto Nico's boots when he walked to and from the subway. Perfect for snowballs and snow people (Sarah had once told he and Alena to stop being sexist because 3 lumps of snow with a carrot in the middle of the head could just as much be a boy as a girl).

He finished the last math equation he had left, and finally there was only the 1 ½ inch binder left in his bag. He kicked his bag under his chair just as someone passed the open door. He froze, and trekked back to look.

"Hey!" The little boy said "You're the Tall Dude!"

It was Clay, still with the Spiderman bandana over his head.

"Oh, hi Clay." Nico said.

"What are you doing in Sarah's room?"

"I'm waiting for her." Nico said.

"Oh. That sounds boring. Come with me." Clay said.

"What? Where?"

"Playroom. We're trying to make another chain. Sarah said we should try to break the record for longest paper chain ever. Then we could get our names in the Guinness World Record book, with the freaks that can hold up an anvil when it's hooked to their eyelids, or the dudes taller than you are."

"That sounds cool."

"Sarah said it should at least get out of the Ward. We're working on it- want to come help?"

"Sure," Nico said. He knew at what time Sarah would be back, so he figured there was no harm.

What Nico hadn't realised was that the whole operation was huge.

The playroom was a big room with orange walls, big windows and Christmas barfed over it- like the rest of the ward. There were corners with toys, a TV with a game console and Arts and Crafts tables.

A handful of kids were sitting on each side- cutting strips of construction paper and looping them around the first, and sealing them with pieces of tape. They even followed color orders- ROYGBIV like a rainbow. A few of the older kids were there too.

"Hey Tommy, Sarah's friend Tall guy is here to help." Clay said.

"Really? Cool!" Tommy said.

So Nico sat down, a stack of construction paper was dropped in front of him by a 16 year old girl called Fredericka. He sat with her and a guy his age called Troy.

"I think this is really cute. Sarah had a great idea." Fredericka said. She still had all her hair, and she didn't seem too tired, so Nico guessed that she was fairly new.

"Sarah always does." Troy said. He lifted up a small chain of 6 colors and attached them to one end.

"Where is she anyways? I thought she'd be the one sitting here with the little kids going this."

"She's not doing great today," Nico said. "And right now she's with Squirt. I'm 99% sure she'd like to be here though."

"Sarah Barclay- definitely. Kid at heart that girl is." Troy nodded. Nico had met him before; he was the kind of guy who didn't talk a lot but that people listened to when he did.

"But this is fun!" Fredericka said. "Haven't you ever wanted to make something this big when you were a kid? Break a world record, be famous?"

"Yeah, okay." Troy admitted. They chatted on and on until Big Bertha wheeled Sarah in next to Troy, Fredericka and Nico.

"Hey Sar!" Fredericka said.

"Yo Fred." Sarah said. She gave props to Troy and gave Nico a kiss. "Apparently I'm good enough to be trusted with scissors now. Pass me some yellow paper, someone." She asked.

She started cutting with them but Nico noticed she wasn't as talkative or active as usual, and she didn't cut straight.

"Sarah, you okay?" Nico asked really quietly.

"Not really, but I'm making world's biggest paper chain." She said.

"Sarah, if you're not doing good…"

"I'm fine." She turned a bit green as she said it.

"Okay, actually Nico, go get a nurse please." She asked, her eyes squinting. Nico nodded and bumped into Crystal in the corridor.

The second Crystal wheeled Sarah into her room she threw up.

"Damn. Damn it, damn it, damn it." Sarah cursed once Crystal had reassured her, transferred her to her bed and cleaned up. She whipped the corners of her mouth with her sleeve.

"It's okay," Nico said.

"No it's not. I'm freaking useless. Can't do a thing." Sarah said dropping her head in the pillows.

"Sarah did you look outside your room?" Nico asked. "Have you looked at that hallway? Or in the playroom- everybody sitting down at one table cutting and tapping and colour-coordinating? Sarah Barclay, you will never be useless. For what it's worth, I'll always love having you around." Sarah closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know you're trying to make me feel better Nico, but I feel like Styx."

"Do you want me to get a doctor or something?"

"No," Sarah said. She opened her eyes and it looked like she was seeing the world all hazy, like Nico wasn't totally there. She stretched out her hand to try and take his hand but she missed 3 of his fingers. Nico adjusted his hand and tried not to let it bother him.

Sarah's days were more bipolar than Aeolus, and he knew it well enough. Sometimes she was walking around and stealing stuff and making jokes, and others, she was like this. Her balance and walking crippled, her vision hazy, nauseous, and coughing up blood, coughing, sometimes she couldn't hold onto things… It'd been like that for the last two years. Nico just held her hand during the hard days and didn't let go because he wasn't giving up on her. But today he felt like he just had.

Sarah moaned in frustration and pain.

"Its days like this when I know 100% that they're right." Sarah said.

Doctor Squirt came and gave her some painkillers or something like that. Sarah fell asleep and Dr Squirt suggested to Nico that he go back home. Sarah was going to be sleeping and resting for a while. Nico chewed the corners of his lips.

"We'll call if there's anything." He said.

_If she suddenly starts dying on us. _Nico translated.

"Kay." Nico said biting his lips. "I'll go call Percy."

"I've already called him. He should be here any minute." Doctor Squirt said. Nico nodded and was on is way out when he froze. Shoot, he'd forgotten…

He ripped a page from a notebook and wrote on the back;

_I forgot to tell you that I'm bringing Alena over on Wednesday afternoon. Rest and feel better, maybe you'll get to throw a snowball at her. _

_Love you, _

_Your guy_

Nico waited for Percy in the parking lot, and Percy showed up quick enough. He had a pile of paper on the shotgun seat.

"What the heck is this?" Nico asked, dumping it on the back seat.

"Work," Percy said unhappily. "Job application for the aquarium Annabeth was talking about. They want to test my knowledge or something like that."

"So you're going to the beach to go talk to aquatic life forms tonight?" Nico asked.

"Funny," Percy said. "But no. Can't tonight."

"Why not?"

"You'll see."

Nico leaned back and propped his heals on the seat.

He figured it out when the door of the apartment opened as he and Percy approached.

"Hi cuz!" Thalia said. She was still about 14 years old as far as looks went (which Nico and Percy were using against her as much as any good cousin would- especially once Nico had gotten taller. That was the ultimate ammo). Her black hair had grown to ear length, and her eyes were just as blue and startling as ever. She was wearing silvery camouflage and boots, like any hunter.

"Thalia?" Nico said.

"See, at least I remember your names. You've got a big total of 2 cousins Nicky, make us count." Thalia said patting his back.

"Don't call me Nicky or I'm calling you Tree Hugger."

"Don't call me Tree Hugger or I'll stab you with my-"

"Can I just mention that some neighbours aren't demigods?" Percy asked.

Nico and Thalia got in and they saw Annabeth sitting on the couch looking up at Nico, Percy and Thalia. She had a textbook open on her knees and an open pencil case balanced on the top of the couch. Nico felt like blowing in its direction just to make it fall. But then Annabeth would make him pick up every last crayon and eraser and pen and tube of white-out.

"Why are you here?" Nico asked. "Aren't you a hunter or something?"

"Yes Nico."

"So… Why are you here?" Nico said. Percy laughed.

"Hey Kelp for Brains, you processed it about as well." Thalia said. "The hunters are at Camp. Artemis decided to show up for the solstice early because of –umm- complications she had last year. I thought since you 4 are in the middle of school or work or college or whatever in the City I'd come bug you personally."

"You're so thoughtful Thal." Percy said. Thalia made a face and plopped on the couch.

"So what's up with my two favourite cousins?"

"We're your only cousins."

"Not true- there are the godly ones. Triton, Melinoe, Persephone, Ares, those dudes."

"Yeah but who the Hades voluntarily talk to those dudes." Percy said. "They're a bit like 'grr' about the whole demigod-that-isn't-supposed-to-be-there thing."

"Maybe it's just with you." Thalia suggested. "They're all pretty nice when I come around."

"You're Miss Boss. You've got a dad with a doomsday bolt, a patron with an insane love for jackalopes, a strong variety of weapons and a cruddy attitude yourself. We try not to mess with you." Nico said.

"Shut up Nico." Thalia said pulling her legs up on the couch with her, hugging her knees.

"You are the eagle that soars-"

"Nico di Angelo."

"The hand of justice and law-"

"Percy Jackson."

"The-"

"I'm going to kill you both very soon." Thalia said. Annabeth started laughing.

"How old are you guys? 12?"

"Good Zeus, if Percy and Thalia go back to being 12, help us all." Nico said, walking over to his room.

"Hey, where are you-" Percy must've stopped Thalia mid-sentence or something- and Nico was thankful for both Percy's compassion and courage.

He threw the bag in the corner.

He had a phone in his room, on his bedside table. He lied down on his bed and half expected it to ring, with a secretary or a doctor on the other end of the line. He couldn't believe Sarah had just fallen apart like that. She was the kind of person who went at life with a smile and a fair supply of duct tape, so Nico hated seeing her in pain or sorrow more than anybody else.

Sorrow…

His eyes went back to his bag where the 1 ½ inch binder was waiting there. It reminded him of a crocodile, swimming around a pirate ship when the prisoners were in line to walk off the plank. Just waiting for him to go for it.

The due date was December 14th. It was the 2nd. He was still okay.

Whenever this happened it scared Nico stiff. He couldn't explain just how bad it was; he'd be more relieved to hear she was back to normal than if you told him that every monster in the world had just dropped dead.

Doctor Squirt said that Sarah had a malignant tumour. Nico had asked a lot of questions, and he remembered that Dr Squirt had said that sometimes cancer cells break off the malignant tumour and invaded other parts of the brain, the spinal cord, or other parts of the body. That's what had happened to Sarah, except the cancer had spread to her lungs. Nico felt like those cancerous cells had broken off and gotten all over. All over Sarah's life, all over his life, all over their relationship… Everything always fell back to how Sarah was feeling, what the doctors said…

Nico hated that for Sarah, she shouldn't have to live confined like that. Watched over all the time, caged in… Children of Hermes were adventurers, spies, thieves, backpackers, jacks of all trades; not the kind of people who sat down for a day to do Ken-Kens, watch TV or lie in bed. The longing look in her eyes when she saw snow was killing Nico as he thought about it over again.

Snow…

Nico bolted up and went to the kitchen where Thalia was showing Annabeth and Percy some newly acquired wilderness skill she got by building a fire in the middle of the living room.

He tried to get to the kitchen without them noticing but these people were trained monster-killers and Thalia was a super-hunter. It didn't quite work out for Nico.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked seeing Nico reach for a cupboard. Nico froze.

"Getting the peanut butter out."

"Why?" Percy asked. "I didn't even know you liked peanut butter."

"Why do you even have it around then?" Annabeth asked.

"Tyson."

"I was going to… Umm… Cookies?"

"Cookies…"

"Yes." Nico said thinking 'what?'

"Okay, now I'm worried about him." Thalia said.

"What? Spending half my time for a year or so in the Underworld with Persephone and Demeter had some form of positive outcome."

"Cookies." Percy repeated just to check.

"Yes."

"Nico, what are you really doing with the peanut butter."

"I told you." Nico said defensively. "Coo-kies."

"Li-ar."

"Hey, if you're not going to believe me it's not my problem." Nico said. He proceeded to taking various ingredients out of cupboards and the fridge. He was waiting for the three of them to look away so he could sprint to a shadow –preferably _with_ the peanut butter- and disappear. They didn't.

So Nico was making cookies. He purposefully doubled the recipe Demeter had knocked into his head to get rid of more peanut butter, and flicked the rest in anyways. Who cared? He glanced over his shoulder from time to time, but there they were watching him in a mix of disbelief, worry and trying not to laugh (hi Percy).

Finally there was a knock on the door and Nico took his cue.

They turned; he sprinted to the nearest shadow and reappeared in Central Park.

He only went back to the apartment late at night when he figured that everyone would be sleeping. He put the jar of peanut butter in the fridge, and switched off the kitchen lights to find Annabeth on the couch and Thalia having decided that she was important enough to take over his bed without his consent. Possibly a form of revenge. He was sure she'd messed around with his stuff.

He stood in the doorframe of his room, debating what to do about the cousin in his room.

He decided that nobody in the whole building would appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night by a promised-ugly demigod fight, so he just plopped in the opposite corner and took the nearest thing as a pillow.

It was his backpack. The backpack with the damn 1 ½ inch binder he was trying to avoid so freaking hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**Son of Neptune comes out tomorow! Tee-hee, tee-hee, someone's just a _bit _excited! Anyways, have fun reading it if you're at that point, read it if you just find out- that's gold in paper and shineless form!**

* * *

><p>VI<p>

_**December 3rd**_

"So what do you do when you have an equation like this?" Miss Gomez asked from the front of the class holding a marker to the whiteboard. She was a short woman –most students were taller than her- with a cultured voice and brown eyes with unnaturally thick lashes. She wore a pencil skirt, flat sandals –which didn't help her height issues- and a burgundy modern blouse. It was her first year teaching, and there was no student at Goode that didn't like her, as far as Nico knew.

"You panic?" Someone suggested. It was Ian Donatello, Nico's best friend at school. He was a Hispanic kid with close-cropped black hair and a cocky smile. Maybe a loud mouth, possibly rude, but definitely funny. Ian was the guy that everyone wanted to be around, but he didn't want to be around people much. Nico had met him when they'd both been trying to figure out which corner of the gym was less crowded during a pep rally.

People laughed.

"Great, so what do reasonable people who have knowledge of math and are not Ian do when they have an equation like this?" Miss Gomez started. "Nico?"

Styx.

"Umm…" Nico said. He looked at the board and at the free-styling numbers. He hated math even more than English or Spanish. Well, maybe with the 1 ½ inch binder stalking him, maybe not right now, but there was passion.

"I don't know." Nico said. A kid in the back said 'well will you look at that'. Nico thought it might be that jerk, Bryce Carlton, who bugged everyone. He ignored it.

"Can you think about it?" Miss Gomez asked. Nico tried to figure it out but his brain was completely distracted. It was the last period of the day, he was about to go shadow-travel to go pick up Alena from camp, and go to the hospital and so forth. Why would a bunch of numbers and letters and fancy symbols mean anything right now? (or ever)

"I don't know." Nico repeated.

"Mm-kay, Miss Roberts?" Miss Gomez said, pointing to Andrea Roberts raised her hand for everything in every class. She was nearly as bad as Alena with her factoids except the later wasn't so show off and suck up with authority.

Nico went back to tapping his crayon on his desk and starring at the clock. Ian was doing the same thing, trying to make time go faster by sheer willpower and eye contact. He hadn't blinked in like, 5 minutes. Sometimes Nico worried about him.

"Miss Gomez?" Ian finally called, his hand in the air.

"Yes Mr Donatello, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, he's too far out." Ian's brother Derrick said. A few people snickered.

"I think you should let us leave 10 minutes before the bell." Ian said.

"And why would I do that?" She asked.

"Because you're nice, it'd make all our lives better and I noticed you got your hair cut." Ian flashed a smile like 'hug me!' and Miss Gomez actually considered it. She shrugged.

"Okay, but no noise in the hallway and it's our secret; right?"

People cheered and agreed.

Everyone charged out of the class, but Ian hung back with Nico.

"Hey, they're going to test cakes and look at dresses for Eileen's Sweet 16 tonight, and apparently I have to go too. Want to come? Free cake." Ian offered.

"I can't. Sorry Ian, I owe someone a ride." Nico said.

"Sarah?"

"Sarah's friend."

"Ditch?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Yeah. What about tomorrow then? I'm sure we'll have leftovers."

"Sure," Nico said. "And how are you going to be alone tonight, anyways? Where's Derrick going to be?"

"Juvy." Ian said.

"I'm serious." Nico said.

"Some science thing. I had no idea that they crossbred scholars and criminals now, but then Derrick and I got to high school." Ian shrugged.

"Trust me," Nico said. "They do."

He'd seen the children of Athena on a bad day numerous times.

"Dude, you just said that in Italian." Ian said.

"Oops. Bad habit."

Ian's mom was Hispanic, and his dad was an Italian man with strong arms and a killer moustache. Ian's house was the only place Nico could go to catch up on his Italian without having to shadow-travel to Italy. Angela Donatello was the nicest person in the world and always smelled like fresh-baked bread.

Nico often went to Ian's place when he had some serious venting to do, or couldn't stand his cousins anymore, or just felt in the mood for pasta. He'd found he was going to Ian more and more now, because Percy knew everything and sometimes Nico didn't want that. Sometimes Nico wanted to be able to talk to someone who didn't know how far back he and Sarah went, where he was from and what he'd been through. It was easier being Nico di Angelo than Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, 70 year old dude pulled back in time, Bianca the dead hunter's little brother.

Ian was the only person that Nico was really comfortable talking to at school. He was funny, but he could listen too, and Nico was ready to listen to him vent about either Eileen or Derrick- who were both complete opposites of Ian as cheerleader and school genius.

"What, to speak Italian around me? You know that my parents love that, right? You're welcome at my place anytime."

"Tomorrow then."

"Yup," Ian said. "Well, I got to go before Derrick takes the car and I'm screwed."

"Kay," Nico said.

Ian and Derrick shared a car. It was old, worked 73% of the time only and it smelt like the weirdest thing, but it was a car. They each had a key, and they were supposed to wait for each other before driving home but that didn't happen. Derrick loaded in his friends and sped off to wherever criminals or scholars went.

Ian was usually stuck at school until his parents would pick Eileen up after cheerleading practice or yearbook comity, student council or when she finished a bake sale for the starving children of Ghana or anything else like that (he hated subways). He was on name-to-name bases with the librarian. How sad was that? Especially considering Ian could stand up in the middle of the parking lot, yell 'I need a ride' and have 20 people arm-wrestling for being able to drop him off.

He was following Ian out, when someone called his name. He spun around. Miss Gomez sat at her desk and motioned for him to come with a finger.

"Later," Ian said. Nico nodded and went to the back of the class.

"How are things going, Nico?" Miss Gomez asked.

_Suckish._

Due to the fact that Nico was the biggest failure in mathematics that Goode High School had ever seen since Perseus Jackson and Tammi the Empousa, she'd imposed for him to come with his legal parent of guardian on parent/teacher meeting day in the gym. Of course Nico had nobody better than Percy to drag along. He figured Percy must've sat through enough parent-teacher-in-the-gym meetings to have a clue what to say. Anyways, in a matter of 3.5 seconds Miss Gomez had told him to go get a soda from a vending machine (therefore kicking him out), and he imagined that she must've grilled Percy for information about his life. Anyways, she'd always been pretty cool for a teacher, but she was even nicer now. She gave a bit less homework than usual, she didn't yell at you if you were slow or tired, she left you alone if you looked out of shape or worried, etc. All those things you wish your teachers would do.

He shrugged.

"Not too great I'm guessing, or is that your way of saying 'it sucks'?" Miss Gomez asked.

"It sucks." Nico admitted.

"How's Sarah doing?" Miss Gomez asked.

"Not great."

"What's happening with her now?" She asked.

"It goes up and down like a bungee jumper," Nico said. "Sometimes she's like cancer never happened, like it doesn't exist. Sometimes she's stuck in bed, can barely move, won't move and is feeling like hell. Sometimes she doesn't say when she needs to rest or she doesn't admit it and ends up collapsing."

"Well Nico, from what I've heard about Sarah, she was a very active girl. It's hard for her that her body can't keep up with her mind. She wants to be healthy again to get back to what she does, to be back to who she is and she can't be exactly that person right now."

"Yeah," Nico said. This wasn't new to him. She hated her body. She hated what was wrong with it, she hated that it just failed on her like that, she hated that it was bringing her down. He knew that, and he couldn't fix that for her. Add that to the list…

"Is she getting better, though?"

"Nope," Nico muttered, excessively tired of answering that question time and time again. "They've just declared her terminally ill."

"Nico I'm so sorry…" Miss Gomez said. He shrugged.

"It's… Been a while since at least she's known. Anyways, I've got to go, I owe someone a ride." Nico said.

"Good afternoon Nico."

"Yeah." He said.

He swapped binders in his locker and shadow traveled from the empty change room. The football jocks would only start arriving in a couple of minutes when they were done flirting in the hallways or making it known there was a practise, and he reappeared at Zeus' fist, exactly 2 seconds later.

* * *

><p>Nico got to the hospital quicker than usual since he'd shadow-traveled and had been let out of class early. As promised with Alena Hartney.<p>

Alena was the same age as them- seventeen. She had eyes like steel- that precise color and that intense. Her raven black hair had gotten grabbed during a fight, and she'd had to cut it to get away. Sarah had cut it the same way –midneck- once Alena had explained what had happened, because that fight had totally traumatised Alena on more than one level. Sarah had kept it midneck because she liked it, and Alena had gone back to it once Sarah's hair had started falling out.

She was average sized, and a really sweet person even if sometimes when you said something stupid you should stay at arm's length. The two of them had been best friends since Alena had gotten to Camp when they were 14. Both girls remembered it really well and Nico had heard the story more than once (seven times). Basically Alena had been reading a book and Sarah had told her that paper had three uses. Spit balls, money and toilet paper. There had been a long debate which Alena had an easy victory in since Sarah quickly got confused by the long words. Sarah had blinked and said;

"_You're okay. Want to come to this party in cabin 12?"_

"_Party? Are those allowed here?"_

"_No. But why would we tell Chiron? Geez, I thought you were Athenian." _

"_It's just… My dad's kind of strict about parties, especially if there's drinking. Cabin 12 is Dionysus, right? The drinking god?" Sarah smiled and made 'tsk tsk' sounds._

"_Alena, Alena, Alena. Sit down with me and little Miss Barclay will explain to you a little. At camp, we have this concept called; 'parents aren't here- enjoy- do stupid things- play with fire, run with scissors- go Goth'. And if it makes you feel any better, Mr D is being a total jerk about us drinking when he can't, so at best, there'll be Coke. Which won't be diet. Oooh…" _

"_You're not okay with that?" _

"_Dude- no! You've never seen my brothers on a hangover- I have the MOST fun with them! And when they wake up with their face looking like they walked through a rainbow, they can't automatically blame me because who knows what they did!" Sarah said._

"_Sarah," Alena said seriously, "You're weird."_

"_Yeah, and you're pretty boring. So common, and us children of Hermes and Dionysus are gonna show you how to party." _

Alena had nothing better to do, children of Hermes are good at peer-pressure and convincing, so she agreed. Alena said that that's when trouble started for her, but really she valued her friendship with Sarah more than anything, and Nico knew it.

After Annabeth had left Camp Alena was the one who'd been charged of the Ancient Greek lessons, and she was Malcolm's lieutenant in Capture-the-flag, battles, and everything. Sarah had insisted that she not give that up (she'd had nothing to hold over Nico though) when she'd gotten sick.

She did her best to come to New York often. Whenever she could hitch a ride on the delivery trucks for Delphi Strawberry co, or a Pegasus, the vans when the Satyrs went back to school after March/summer/Christmas/Easter break, when Nico was feeling up to the task of shadow-traveling two people- which was not often-, etc. Alena was clever, and she'd gotten herself to the hospital in some pretty creative ways.

Sarah was in bed- which was usually a sign that she was pretty tired and that her day hadn't been that great. Usually she liked to be in the armchair near the window so she could see something, and she was in front of the door so if someone she wanted to talk to walked by she could just yell at them to come back.

"Hey Sarah!" Alena said.

"Alena Hartney!" Sarah said when she saw Alena. Her face brightened like when someone flicks the light of a room. She pushed herself until up and hugged Alena.

"I didn't know you were coming!" Sarah said, still smiling. Nico was satisfied; it wasn't the sick Sarah smile. It was the crinkled eyes and toothy grin.

"I told Nico to tell you!" Alena said.

Nico wasn't satisfied.

Having Alena Hartney mad at you is about as dangerous as being in the same room as a bunch of enflamed bees as you are coated in flower perfume.

"I left a note last night," he said throwing his hands up.

"Oh that's what that was!" Sarah said. "Sorry, the little kids were in desperate need of paper. They scavenged every room and shredded a few important papers here and there with safety scissors."

"Paper? Sarah- you did _not _teach a bunch of small children how to make spit balls…" Alena said.

"No!" Sarah said. "Only some of them."

"Sarah!"

"That's not it- they needed the paper for their chain. They want to break a world record for the biggest one."

"Nico, is that what they were talking to you about in the hallway?" Alena asked the son of Hades.

"Yes," Nico said. "That kid was Clay. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to go help them. Again."

"Awe, Nico's got a soft spot for the little children…" Sarah said. "I knew you were at least part human."

"Love you too. I'll go help with the chain." Nico said.

"Wait- before you go, I have a question and I figure you're the two people most prone to answering it; is Walt Disney's head really frozen somewhere?"

Alena and Nico exchanged looks.

"What? Google is a fantastic boredom buster!" Sarah said.

"You explain that one, Alena." Nico said. "Oh whoops, nearly forgot."

He knelt next to his backpack and slipped an empty jar of peanut butter from his bag. Well, it wasn't empty anymore; last night he'd packed it as much as he could with Central Park, pure white, never walked on or soiled snow. Sarah's jaw dropped.

"Sweet!" She said. "Gods- Nico, really?"

"You said you wanted snow. I figured that if you couldn't go outside today-"

"Which I can't."

"-You'd at least want to throw a snowball at Alena."

"Hey!" Alena protested. He tossed her the jar and she passed it to Sarah.

"How did it not melt during the day?" Sarah asked. "From my experience of being stuck in a locker they're uncomfortable, stuffy, warm and smell like a unique mixture of sweat and pepperoni pizza."

"I guess snow doesn't mind sweat and pepperoni." Nico said, not even wanting to _think _about why the Hades Sarah had ever been stuck inside a school locker.

"Come here, hell on wheels." Sarah said. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"You're being really thoughtful. More than usual." Sarah said softly, in his ear. Nico shrugged.

"I want you to be happy." He said. Sarah backed herself up onto her pillows again.

"Gotta go help, try not to fling that stuff at the doctors or medical equipment." Nico said.

"I'll do what I can, but Big Bertha is being really annoying about this." Sarah said.

He decided he would take no responsibility for anyplace the snow ended up at, and walked down the corridor, sticking to the wall like every time he moved around a building. But not too close because then he'd brush some tinsel off the walls or crease some pictures.

You could see into the playroom because the walls and doors were made of glass. Nico's eyes widened. The chain was bundled up on the table so people sitting there could still reach both ends. Apparently the stock of paper had been replenished after yesterday's crisis, because 4 patients were cutting and tapping, as well as some family members and a nurse with tight red curls.

Nico pushed the door and people turned around.

"Tall dude!" Clay said.

"Hi Clay," Nico said. He got a few other welcomes, and he welcomed them back.

It was weird that way, but the hospital –which was the reason he spent some nights sleepless, cursing himself and the Underworld and the fates- was one of the few places where people knew his name and said hi. The other was camp, and the last was the Underworld. It was weird that way, but every place he'd made friends or acquaintances were involved with Sarah or death.

"Nico, these are my sister Jacqueline and Asha." Fredericka said. "Jacky, Ash, this is Nico. He's Sarah's boyfriend."

"Sarah's the funny one, right?" Asha asked.

"That's her." Nico said. Sarah- the funny one. Always.

"You're Sarah's _boyfriend!" _Clay yelled. "You _kissed _her?" The idea seemed totally foreign to him. Fredericka, Asha, Jacqueline and the nurse laughed. Nico shot Clay a look, as well as Tommy who was freaking out just as much. Well, nearly.

"That's what boyfriends _do _Clay. Stop it, one day you'll kiss a girl." Fredericka said.

"No!" He protested.

"So what, you're going to be a bachelor for your whole life?" Nico asked.

"Yeah man!" He said. The girls laughed again.

"That's always the plan when you're 8 years old," Nico muttered. "Can I cut or paste or something?"

"World's biggest paper chain won't make itself." The girl who'd been quiet said. She was skin, bones and bandana. Her eyes were emerald green, and as bright as the gem even if the rest of her looked sickly and frail. She was wearing a hospital robe and sitting in a wheelchair.

"You're Maddy, right?" Nico asked her quietly once he sat down. "Sarah's friend that I've never met."

Maddy nodded.

"I don't do well with other people usually and I can't handle radiation real well. Nice to meet you now, though." Maddy said. She nudged her head towards the guy, a blond boy with thick hair and a long nose. "This is my brother Carl."

"Hun?" Carl said out of a reverie. "Oh- hi, sorry." Nico nodded his head.

"You guys still going by colour order or something?"

"No, it's a free for all." Asha said.

Nico grabbed scissors and joined into the small talk when he could. Fredericka and her sisters, Carl, the two little boys and the nurse were the main voices. Maddy didn't look like she wanted to talk. She just sat there cutting strips of paper. Nico tried to remember what Sarah had said about Maddy.

Her real name was Madeline Abbey, but everyone called her Maddy Abbey. She used to have long, golden blond curls that went to her mid-back- Sarah knew from one time when they'd shown each other pictures of themselves before they'd gotten sick. She had been diagnosed with leukemia- cancer of the blood- a year ago.

She was very sweet apparently, and Sarah often went to see her, but Maddy was really shy so she didn't talk to many other patients like Sarah did. She didn't invite herself into rooms when someone was alone to help color a picture, start a conversation, greet the new kids, or tell a joke. But she was a very bright person- she was the one who'd decided to boost the Christmas spirit of the place with the decorating.

Nico wondered if he should talk to her or something. He wasn't good with people. Sarah was. Sarah talked to people, introduced both of them when she did, started conversations, kept them alive… Nico wasn't really into the whole talking-to-strangers thing. Not the live ones anyways.

Besides; Maddy was shy apparently.

"Have you guys even counted the rings?" Nico asked.

"We've got 525." Clay said proudly.

"Are you serious?" Nico asked.

"I was there when they counted." Maddy nodded. "Sarah said I should check it out."

"Holly…"

"We need at least 1 0000 before we can even _call _the Guinness people though," Fredericka said.

"We'll be at it for a while." Jacqueline said.

"It'll go faster once Sarah comes here, she's super-tapper." Clay said. That hit Nico like a bullet, except he didn't hear a POW or see the gun to have a clue it was coming. When Sarah comes here… Well, there would be one day where Sarah wouldn't come here.

_Shut up you pessimistic idiot._

"She's visiting a friend right now," Nico said, snapping himself out of it. "Tomorrow, probably."

"Hopefully. Sarah's super-fast, like, VHOOO-VHOO!" Clay imitated, waving his hand through the air at top speed.

"Clay, you're holding scissors." The nurse said patiently. Clay sat back down.

"She's going to make half that million."

"You think?" Nico asked.

"Yup. Or at least 500." Clay shrugged.

"You'll have to talk to her about that." Maddy said.

"I will!" Clay said decisively.

_Will or iron: height of Smurf_, Nico thought.

The conversation took off about jolly ranchers.

Nico wasn't exactly normal, so he didn't get normal conversations, but randomness was just something that completely and entirely confused Nico.

How could you go from Paper chains, to jolly ranchers, and now they were talking about Shamu vs. a giant spider from some fantasy series. _What? _

Nico couldn't keep up, by the time he decided that he just might say something, the conversation had moved on to something completely different, and whenever there was a spot for him to talk at, someone else filled it before. It was like fighting for parking- there was always that random car better than yours that popped out of nowhere took the spot, and had Percy hating minivans and Mustangs.

He usually didn't even bother paying attention, but something Sarah had said in Central Park had been bugging him over and over, like a telemarketer.

_"I'm serious. This once. On this one thing. When you left on Wednesday night, you looked horrible. You looked worse than Alena, Connor or Travis or anyone I told. I know I won't be around forever, and I want to know that you'll be around longer, and you'll be okay with it. I want to know that you'll be okay."_

Something that Sarah wanted was the best bribery for Nico- to a limit. This he could do. Well, he couldn't; but he could try and/or fake it. Possibly not even, if every try was like this one.

So he sat there in silence. He was interacting with living organisms though, Sarah should be happy with him either way.

At some point Maddy tugged Carl's sleeve and started looking hazy. The nurse noticed it and wheeled Maddy out, and Nico saw the panic in Carl's eyes as he followed. He felt sorry for the guy. Nobody should ever get that feeling. Nobody.

That might be why he finished cutting up an orange sheet of paper, and followed him.

He was standing in the hallway, hands in his pocket and looking awkward. Sometimes the tinsel just made too much of a contrast, but then Nico remembered the potential that the ward had –like when they'd decided to decorate it. How they'd begged him to hang stuff up for them, how Sarah had gone to see the little kids who were too sick to come and help and had them colouring, how they'd just asked for advice to those too sick to even do that… Nico could see Cassidy's Christmas tree, with the bright yellow star coloured slightly out of lines just past Carl's shoulder.

Carl probably felt eyes on him, and he spun around.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey." Carl greeted back.

"Your sister's not doing good today?" Carl bit his lip and shook his eyes.

"Come with me," Nico said. "You can't help around here now, and there are enough people around Maddy right now. She won't want an extra, no matter who it is."

Carl thought for a second, then internally shrugged it off, and followed Nico to the elevator.

"Where to?" He asked.

"The cafeteria," Nico said. "It'll sound completely stupid and phony, but their hot chocolate actually helps."

"I'm ready to try even the phoniest and stupidest."

"I know." Nico said.

The elevator dinged open, and once they got to the cafeteria they crashed at the first table they saw. It was the middle of the afternoon so not many people were there. The line went quick and Nico was back with two cups in a matter of seconds.

"I'll pay you back later." Carl said.

"No, someone's already done this for me." Nico said, "Said not to pay him back. I'm just passing it around."

Josh McNamara, 19 years old. His little sister Caitria had had stomach cancer and she'd been a week from being out of there when Sarah started chemotherapy.

Anyways, Sarah was having a particularly bad day, and she didn't want anybody within 7 feet of her, no matter who and what they were holding in their hands.

Josh had noticed Nico looking gloomy(er) and pathetic in the hallway, and he'd dragged Nico off to the cafeteria and given him a cup of hot chocolate.

"I'll pay you back later," he said. "I forgot my wallet at school."

"Don't worry about it," Josh had said. "Your day sucks enough. Someone's got to make it up for the bad days."

"It'll be fine when she gets out of here."

"That might take a while, Nico. They never know for sure. I hope for both of you that she's okay soon."

"Thanks. I hope so for Caitria too."

"Thanks, but she's okay. Pretty much okay, anyways. She should be out by the end of May."

"Wow," Nico said. He wished.

"Yeah. But you know what Nico; don't spend all your time worrying about her. At some point you've got to trust the doctors here, and Sarah to take care. They know what they're doing."

"I guess. The only reason I'm even in New York is because of her."

"Then make sure you don't stick around too much. Because then she'll get mad at you that you're losing your life and etc, etc. Trust me; that is one speech you do not want to hear, and it's really hard to yell back at."

They'd talked longer, but not just about the hospital. Also about the stupid things, like football, the party atmosphere in New York since the Islanders had made the Stanley Cup finals, complained about school and college… By the time Josh had checked his watch and realised that he was late for football practice, Nico had almost forgotten everything.

"Cool. Thanks." Carl said, "So you're here because of whom again?"

"Sarah." Nico said.

"Barclay, right? The funny one?"

"The funny one." Nico nodded.

"She seemed cool when I talked to her."

"She's even better usually."

"Chemo's hard on her?"

"Radiation and chemo." Nico lied. "They're sort-of desperate now."

"Oh. Sorry," Carl said. Nico shrugged. He wasn't going to say 'she'll be okay' because she wouldn't be.

"She's seeing a friend right now, so I'm betting that she's okay. Maybe Clay and Tommy will get her back for the paper chain project."

Carl smiled a bit, but it looked a little forced and involuntary at the same time.

"There should be a codename for that. Like, Operation Walrus or something like that."

"Walrus?"

"Okay, maybe like, Operation Guinness."

"I think its fine calling it the Paper Chain Project. PCP if you really want that Mission Impossible touch to it."

Carl snickered and Nico smiled back. Just like that the conversation went off about Mission Impossible, a James Bond remake, actor suggestions… This conversation made sense and when it was only two people, Nico could usually keep up and participate.

Someone tapped Nico on the shoulder. He spun around and saw Alena Hartney standing there, arms crossed and holding the strap of her book bag tight.

"I've got to be back home in 5 minutes. Can you make it happen?" She asked.

"Sure Alena. Nice talking to you Carl."

"Ditto," Carl said. Alena grabbed his wrist and dragged him off.

"Was that Nico di Angelo interacting with live people on his own like a big boy?"

"Shut up Alena," Nico said. "Just find me a shadow."

Alena had apparently localised a corner with an oversized plastic plant that cast a ridiculously big shadow. Nico shadow-traveled Alena back to Camp, and popped back into Sarah's room, making her jump in her armchair.

"Gosh! You know, we half-bloods have enough issues staying alive without you popping up like a total stalker and giving us heart attacks out of nowhere!" She said.

"Sorry," Nico said. He kissed her cheek, and she put a hand to his face and closed her eyes, as if content.

"Thanks for that."

"For bringing Alena or the kiss?"

"Both. But especially for Alena." Sarah said.

"No problem," Nico said. "She made it back right before Mr D sent the harpies on a rampage, by the way."

"Better before than after." Sarah said. It was that '…but no one died!' attitude that made Nico laugh about children of Hermes.

"You guys must've forgotten how to keep track of time." Nico said.

"Well so did you. What were you doing anyways? You weren't in the playroom when we went to help with PCP." Sarah said.

"I was at the cafeteria with Maddy's brother."

"Carl?" Sarah asked. Nico nodded.

"Yeah, Carl. Why?"

"Nothing. Just… Carl's not often around. He's not comfortable around hospitals and sick people. He's been avoiding it, you might say." Sarah said. "Maddy says it's not easy on him."

"Yeah, he was… Shocked. Maddy's not doing great."

"I know, and it's not just today, I'm surprised she even got up." Sarah said. She pursed her lips. "Anyways, you've got a promise to keep."

"I do?"

"Yes," Sarah said. "In Central Park. You offered to introduce me to the kid at your school, Ian Donatello or whatshisface."

"Right," Nico remembered. "You really want to?"

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Tomorrow I'm eating at his place, so maybe after tomorrow." Nico said, "Whatever works with him."

"Yeah, I mean, my agenda is clear. Ken-ken, TV, PCP and following people around aren't going too great. Speaking of which, I finished the last book."

"Already?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

"I haven't been up and around much, okay? And I'm getting really good at them. Trecherous has become easy and easy has become pillow material. Can you please get me another one?"

"Sure thing Sar. You should try Sudoku sometime."

"No, I made Squirt give me a newspaper and I tried both. Ken-ken is way better." She said.

"Why are you so against Sudoku?" Nico asked.

"Because I'm cool like that." Sarah said. Nico chuckled.

"Yes, you're very cool Sarah Barclay."

"Oh! I have a cool joke!"

"Styx."

"No, it's good, it's good! Okay, what does the polar bear say to the ice cube?"

"Global warming!" Squirt said coming in.

"Stop ruining my jokes!" Sarah complained, crossing her arms.

"I guess I'll have to get a joke book too." Nico said.

Squirt laughed.

"You'd be going us all a favour," he admitted. "I'm just here to say good evening."

"Hey, you're leaving early! Usually we're stuck with you- I mean blessed with your presence until later on." Sarah said. Squirt made a face.

"Hey, you know what's weird, Crystal's leaving early tonight too." Sarah said. Then her eyes widened and her mouth made a theatrically fake 'O'.

"Oh my god, Squirt and Crystal! Panic everyone! Mini Doctor children!"

"Sarah Barclay." Squirt said, his cheeks flushing pink.

"I've had that nightmare Doc!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Good afternoon, Nico." He said turning back toward the room's logic.

"Whoa, is she right?" Nico asked.

"You guys are impossible."

"-To not love and appreciate. And you are _so _denying it." Sarah said. "Common, suck it up, be a man and tell us. If it helps, we've both been kissed so you can really just tell us and it'll be okay. Aren't we supposed to be understanding and fluffy-brained now?"

"Mmm, something like that." Nico said.

"Yes, you two. The kleptomaniac comedian here and the quiet Goth one. Fluffy and romantic, all the way." Squirt said.

"We have to have some kind of dramatic and romantic history for us to ever end up together, don't you think?" Sarah teased.

"No." Nico said.

"Not you, him." Sarah said.

Doctor Squirt rolled his eyes again. "Good evening, Sarah." And he left them.

"Totally." Sarah said leaning back. "And if not, that's just too bad because I'm going to be spreading that rumour around."

"Sarah!" Nico said.

"Nico!" She said in the exact same tone. He laughed.

"He's right- you are impossible."

"-To not love and appreciate." Sarah said.

"That's my girl."

"That's my guy."

They talked about this and that, cracked jokes and made each other laugh until their sides hurt. Nico didn't even pay that much attention to Sarah's coughing every now and then. It'd become a usual part of talking to her, and he was nearly used to it.

Nico caught sight of his watch.

"Oh, man, Percy's probably waiting for me!"

"Sprint, sprint!" Sarah cheered.

"I actually will have to." He leaned in and kissed her.

"EWE! Nico kissed Sarah!" Clay said standing in the doorframe. They looked at him and he ran off.

"Speaking of rumours being spread." Nico commented.

"Yeah but people already knew this one. Love you," Sarah said. "Now go catch your ride. And have fun tomorrow, see you later."

Percy was waiting for him; he'd even pulled into a parking spot.

"Finally," he said when Nico climbed into shotgun.

"What?" Nico said. "I'm not that late."

"Buckle up, Annabeth will think I crashed into a post or something."

"Again; I'm not that late." Nico said. "Oh, and tomorrow I'll be at Ian's, so don't' freak."

"Why would I freak? More like rejoice."

"Funny."

"Do you need a ride?"

"No."

"Then go for it."

"Why, what's up with tomorrow?"

"Long story," Percy said. "Car's taken, all you need to know."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Annabeth to Camp," Percy said.

"On a Thursday? Kind of random."

"You don't get it," Percy said.

"Then explain."

"It's December fourth tomorrow." Percy said rolling his eyes.

"So you're celebrating the fact that you learnt to count to four?"

"Stupid. December 4th's the first time we went to camp as a couple."

"Okay…" Nico said, still not getting it. Couples were filled with weird anniversaries and celebrations. He'd never thought Percy and Annabeth had more than August 18- because everyone who'd been at Camp remembered that one. And it'd been freaking hilarious. But whatever, he didn't really care all that much.

"I'm proposing to her tomorrow."

"Oh!" Nico said. "Well, it's about time, and don't screw up."

"Gee thanks." Percy said. "I'm trying to pull something sweet and sensible, here."

"Well good job Percy, that'll probably worked as long as you pick your moment." Nico said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you don't pay attention like last time you admitted you loved her in a big way at camp, you'll end up in the canoe lake. If so, get someone to take a video for me." Percy muttered something in Ancient Greek under his breath. It was like 'stupid annoying cousins, even Thalia won't leave me alone'.

"Thal would want to see the video too." Nico pointed out.

"She's still at Camp!" Percy said.

"Oh. So _really_ pick your moment."

"You know, you're not helping, and why the heck do you know this?"

"I spent a lot of time listening to old people tell me their life stories." Nico said. "It sucks but in a way you get smarter. Maybe you should talk to fish."

"Shut up, Nico." Nico laughed as they pulled into a parking spot.

"Don't tell her, okay?" Percy asked as they got out of the car. "Not a word or you die."

"Then she won't marry you."

"You die after she marries me and if she says yes." Percy said.

Nico knew he was serious, plus he wasn't totally insensitive. "Okay. Well, good luck with all that, may the wedding god or goddess or whatever be with you. Is that something people actually say? Who's the god of that anyways?"

"It's Hera."

"Never mind you're pre-screwed."

"Are you just, like, here to bug me about this?" Percy asked. "Whatever, this is better than Mythomagic."

"Oh, shush."

"And this one has 400 attack points but only if the opponent attacks first, and this one has the lamest powers and it's the worst god card but it has 600 defence anyways, and, and…" Percy rattled out talking very fast, his voice a bit higher than usual.

"I said shush."

"Yeah, well so did I."

Nico laughed again. It'd been a long time since he'd been in such a good mood.

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><p><strong>This little blue button will not hurt you if you click it. <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh my gosh, Son of Neptune- oh my gosh... Don't worry; no spoilers here or in the story, but I just thought it was worthwhile to mention that it was an AWESOME book. It took me about... 7 hours of straight reading (minue 45 or so minutes) to finish. Addictive, much? Anyways here's the story!**

* * *

><p>VII<p>

_**December 4**__**th**_

Danilo Donatello was cooking up some pretty wicked pasta, so the whole house smelt like cheese and made everyone hungry. Even if he, Derrick and Ian had been trying to finish the 6L of coke from the last Every-Donatello-in-New-York-family-event before the Christmas parties came around. The higher purpose of that was to have an excuse to make their mom buy something that wasn't diet. They might be hyped on sugar and caffeine, and felt like they were going to explode, but they wanted that pasta. You wouldn't understand unless you'd ever smelt Mr Donatello's pasta.

Nico and Derrick were taking turns getting creamed by Ian, who was Supreme Lord of the PS3.

The front door opened upstairs, and someone yelled down, 'honeys, I'm home!' It was Angela Donatello. Ian and Derrick yelled up 'hi mom!' and Eileen probably did too, from wherever the phone she was using was.

Nico got shot again and lost. He cursed under his breath and changed spots with Derrick.

"I win again!" Ian said.

"We noticed thanks."

"No problem Derrick, you know how I love being helpful." Ian said. Derrick punched him, Ian punched back and Angela came down right before a full-out fight erupted right in front of Nico.

She was a tall Hispanic woman that the three Donatello children all took after, with rich black hair and light brown eyes, like milk coffee. She wore a flowery dress, a long coat and leather boots with daring heels. Her lips were ruby red, and she was a glamorous kind of woman.

"Nico!" She exclaimed. Whenever Nico was around, the whole household spoke Italian. Ian said that usually there was this monster hybrid of Spanish, Italian and English going around.

"Ian told us you were coming over- long time no see!"

"Yes, Mrs Donatello. It's nice to see you again." He said, getting to his feet to accept her hug.

"Oh, you too honey, you too. You still look thin; does your cousin not feed you?"

That line reminded Nico so much of Demeter, but unlike with the goddess Nico was really fond of Angela Donatello.

"Yes he does," Nico said. "Don't send child security people after him, he's doing alright."

"Nico just stays a toothpick for eternity. He'll always be able to blend in with stickmen and have arms of twig." Ian said. Nico made a face.

"Your father said supper would be ready in a few minutes," she said.

"Yes mom." Ian said, absolutely pulverising Derrick once again. Angela made a face.

"Why do you boys play these things? Why is violence such a good thing? Millions of people fight against it while you sit here in the basement and look at cartoons do it to each other!" She said. She always gave them that speech when she caught them playing a game that involved digital blood.

"Mmm-hmm." They both said.

"Were you two listening?" She scolded.

"It's because it's entertaining, Mom." Derrick said.

"Yeah, to watch you get creamed."

"I don't think so."

"You are going to eat those words, Donatello!"

She sighed and went back upstairs. A few minutes later, supper was called.

Nico sat between Ian and Derrick- because there always has to be someone, and it was always the guest because they wouldn't fight over the guest. Or so the theory was.

Eileen came down, still wearing the cheerleading jacket with her name written in cursive on the shoulder. She wore a black miniskirt and a black zebra top, and the black hair that dropped on her shoulders was slightly wavy, covered partially by a black beanie hat.

She held her head high and she was one of the girls that guys tend to look at when she walked by. She walked past Nico, and her hand brushed his arm. Nico didn't notice.

Danilo gave everyone a healthy serving of homemade Fettuccini Alfredo, and they dug in.

For the first few minutes everyone just enjoyed the delicious pasta in silence and 'aww…', and then Angela broke the silence by asking everyone how their day had went, going around the table.

"Great!" Eileen said. She wore a lot of eye makeup, which was really distracting when she blinked. It made her hard to talk to sometimes. At least now it was black, better than the usual gold and pink. "I showed Corinne the pictures- and she said I should totally go for the purple one. She said that the flirty style fit me."

"You passed flirty a long time ago…" Ian said emphasising the 'lo'. Nico had to smile and Derrick snickered. Eileen looked at them sharply.

"Well, we'll buy it later this week, okay?" Angela said. "Derrick, how did school go?" Derrick shrugged it off.

"Alright, Nico?"

"Okay," he said. "We missed a part of chemistry because someone made something blow up."

"It wasn't you and Ian's fault, right?" Danilo asked.

"No, this dude called Bryce. He was trying to impress this girl with his state of supreme jockness, and didn't pay attention and KABOOM! Mushroom cloud and everything." Ian said.

"We've been waiting the whole year for something to happen." Nico said.

"Are they all okay?" Angela asked.

"It wouldn't really have mattered."

"Ian!"

"I mean- yeah, he was wearing glasses and gloves."

"Well that's good. Ian, what about you?"

Ian pulled out a story about some fight he'd seen happen when he was in the PE section, and the conversation just snowballed from that point on.

Nico loved dinner conversation with the Donatallos. Their conversation was alive, and he could always pipe in and get listened to. He didn't know why he could do it here but not in the hospital playroom or at school. It didn't really matter to him though.

He always wondered; what if Zeus hadn't stroked down that hotel with lightning? What if he and Bianca had never been to the Lotus Hotel and Casino? What if she'd never become a hunter? If Maria di Angelo had been the one to raise them? Would they have lived something like this?

Nico didn't know, but he was hoping they would've.

Like Ian had said, there was left over cake from something their aunt Carlotta –who worked at a small bakery-, had made them to show them what it was like. A tiramisu cake- which was basically what Nico's ambrosia tasted like except Carlotta's was better than any he'd ever had.

They grilled Nico for his verdict, and everyone helped with dishes. Ian, Derrick and Eileen complained about helping the whole time, which got their Dad on their case because _they _weren't the ones who'd been working and cooking today, and then they snapped back that he hadn't been the one to this and that.

Nico would never admit it to anyone, but he envied the Donatellos for that. For their big family with cousins and aunts and uncles, for their siblings, and their parents (none having the power of the universe at their fingertips, or celestial bronze at their sides). For their happy house that smelled good all the time and where you could always yell at someone, and where they could never find anything they were looking for.

Nico might not be Mr Socially Active, and he might like to be alone often, but when you turned around for help and all you got was an empty space where you could imagine everyone who'd once been there… You didn't like to be alone then. And that space was going to get bigger soon, because even Sarah would slip away, and Nico still wasn't used to that idea.

Someone came for Derrick –Ian coughed something like 'there's gonna be a new graffiti at school tomorrow'-, Mr Donatello got a business call (he worked as a translator from home), and Eileen had to go to a student council meeting. It was Angela, Ian and Nico in the kitchen and Nico was pretty sure he knew what was coming.

"So Nico, how's your girl doing?" Angela asked.

'Your girl' had been how Angela Donatello had referred to Sarah since Nico and her son had become friends, and Nico had let it slip that he had a girlfriend. And then had had to explain to her the whole concept of it… Angela was a hopeless romantic and fuzz- soap operas, those cheap paperbacks at grocery stores, gossip, etc. She'd wanted to hear from A to Z about the best-friend then whoops-its-more-than-friends. A little less when Nico got to 'Z', but at least she and Ian were nice about it, and they hadn't shared the information with the whole household.

"Umm… Okay, I guess. She got to see a friend who lives outside New York yesterday, so that made her day."

"That's good." Angela smiled. Nico nearly felt bad lying to her, but if he had to tell one more person that his girlfriend was terminally sick and nobody –even him- could do anything about it, his head was going to explode and he'd finally lose it.

The irony of it was killing him; the son of the god of death, watching someone die.

"Do you still see her often?"

"Nearly every day, I stop by."

"That's sweet of you. I bet it makes her really happy."

Nico shrugged. Speaking of making Sarah happy… "Oh, Ian, I don't know if you would want to, because some people don't like hospitals and are uncomfortable around sick people and so forth, but Sarah wants to meet you. She says you'll be proof that I actually talk to people at school."

"Meet the girl that made the little punk over here soften up? Count me in," Ian said.

"I'll ask her when." Nico said.

"There," Angela said. "Someone at least will know about this mystery girl."

"I already know about her," Ian defended.

"Yeah, Sarah's not a totally taboo subject." I said.

"The girl is awesome, as far as I know. Awesome survival skills if she made it around Nico." Ian said.

"Hey, _I'm _the one with survival skills. That proves you haven't met her yet."

""Then I will, if she still doubts that you act social. That's how you walked into this house in the first place, right? Maybe it's karma."

"Sure Ian, you call it karma."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hecate just got her pie- mmmm...**

**Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians out there and if you're from Winnipeg- go Jets go!**

**So I'm almost over the Son of Neptune shock, or at least that's what my therapist says. Probably just because she wants to get rid of me. (Note: I don't have a therapist - just like I don't have the rights to Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Nico di Angelo).**

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><p>VIII<p>

_**December 4**__**th**__**- 5**__**th**_

Nico was watching the midnight programming of horror movies in the living room. By this time Percy would usually act like a tutor/guardian and tell Nico to go to bed seeing as he had to be in school by 7:00 in the morning (freak school). But Percy wasn't there.

A beautiful young woman was getting cornered in a dark alley by a guy wearing a clown mask and a trench coat when the front door opened, and Nico turned his head to see Percy who was grinning like he'd won the lottery.

"I'm guessing she said yes?" Nico said.

"She said yes." Percy affirmed.

"Holly Zeus, she said yes." Nico repeated. "Congrats I guess." Nico said.

"Thanks," Percy said. "Annabeth had to spend the night at Camp, something about problems with who's next in line for counsellor since Malcolm is at Harvard now."

"Alena, isn't it?" Nico asked.

"Technically," Percy said. He sat down on the couch next to Nico as fake blood squirted onto a brick wall.

"What is this?"

"The Night." Nico said. "Something like that. I don't know, it was that or a Spanish musical on trees."

"Trees?"

"I think it was trees."

"Yes Nico, the trees all start singing and dancing with their woodland friends." Percy said.

"That shows you weren't at Camp that one time. I swear, that little kid in Demeter is still having nightmares about that." Nico said. "But seriously, the programing sucks at midnight."

"Which is why normal people _sleep _at midnight." Percy said.

"I'm freaking nocturnal, I can't help it!" Nico said.

"Adapt," Percy said. "Become a regular human."

"Follow your own advice, will you?" Nico said, getting up anyways. "'Night."

"Goodnight," Percy said watching the freak movie himself.

He fell asleep and had the worst dream in a while.

He was walking across the mess of a building destroyed to rubble. Nico's heart started beating faster than before because he'd seen that before. He'd seen that destroyed building- and he knew it was a hotel… It was the last place he'd had a real blood-related family.

Hades stood and his hand closed around his bangs.

"Alecto." He called. The fury reappeared, and she bowed.

"Nico and Bianca are safe?"

"As safe as can be, my Lord Hades."

"Good. Now talk me out of it."

"Out of what, sire?"

"Out of bringing Maria back from the dead, of killing everyone on the children of Poseidon and Zeus' side in Europe, of sending plagues to countries." The god said.

"My Lord, the woman died. You cannot help it, the fates have wanted it. If you bring back one good soul, you would have to bring back 3 bad ones. Is Maria's life worth those of Vlad the Impaler, Atila the Hun and Adolf Hitler?"

"Yes." Dad whispered. "To me it is."

"What about to Maria? Would Maria tolerate it? Would she thank you for it or disapprove it?" Alecto said. "She'd want her brethren and she'd want her children to be in a world as good as it can possibly be." Dad ran his hand through his hair and he suddenly looked _old_. Nico knew that the gods were old- that they were millennia and millennia old, even if some of them looked 12 and 16 like Artemis and Apollo. But never has one truly hit him as _old_. But Hades looked like he'd seen a million years' worth of suffering and pain and went through every way of torture in the fields of punishment twice.

"Thank you, Alecto." He said, "You are wise when I am not."

"I live to serve my Lord." Alecto said. Hades held out his arm and the bat-like creature landed on Hades' arm.

"Tell me if I'm wrong, Alecto- but I could send the innocent victims here to Elysium straight away, could I not? Some were no older than Nico, like that little boy across the corridor he played with. I could make it better for them, no rule forbids that if I recall."

"My Lord is right."

"Perfect. Go to the judgement tent, give them the name of every staff member and guest and tell them to streamline their applications to Elysium." Hades said.

"Yes my Lord."

Alecto disappeared and Nico I bolted up in his sleep.

_That _was it. Hades didn't control who died; and he knew who did.

* * *

><p>Miss Julianne Padma was an average height and round lady. She was in her sixties and still pretending to be golden blond and brown haired. She had spectacles perched on her nose because her 'big brown eyes were rotten' and she always smiled, no matter what. She was always nice and sweet and protective which made you automatically think she was up to something (especially if you had that demigod-born fear of 'OHMYGODS SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!') and she babied everyone. Sometimes she used these expressions and you were left thinking 'what?' She could also be bipolar. She could be talking a hundred miles an hour and all cheerful one minute and then be so annoying and micro-managing and bossy and uptight the next that you wanted to transfer to a military school based in the middle of Russia and open only in winter.<p>

She wasn't very appreciated amongst students, which sucked because she'd been following the same group of student for 3 years.

Unfortunately that was Nico's year, and this time he got Miss Padma instead of Mr Blofis, who nobody had any real problems with.

"Alright, so remember that-" the bell rung. "PARK YOUR BACONS! For the love of lovely Brenda Jones- there's no rig to your seats that means that when the bell rings they catch fire!"

See- for the love of lovely Brenda Jones. What the Hades was that?

"Have you ever tried that, Ma'am?" Ian called. People laughed but Miss Padma didn't.

"Mr Donatello you're gonna stay with me after class, kay peanut? As for the rest of you, remember, your project on emotions are due next week, and I want a paragraph each. Complete sentences, spelling included and remember- be original! I expect work worthy of an eleventh grade student." Miss Padma said. "Now, I want your tests signed by next period and that will be your pass out of my class next period! Off you go, Munchkins."

Everyone charged out (minus Ian).

Nico was pretty merciless when he threw his binder in his locker.

"Project on emotions, how could I forget that one." Nico muttered with clenched teeth. Nico wasn't exactly fond of homework or school, but he hated this with a particular twist. It was like the universe was adding insult to injury.

"Hey Nico," someone said. He turned around and saw Eileen, Ian's little sister, walking past him with her friends. Nico nodded his head. Once again, Eileen wore black which she hadn't much before- a black dress with a wide collar. Eileen flicked her hair over her shoulder and smiled at him before carrying on like nothing happened. Nico turned back to his locker to find Geography.

"That was quite possibly the most disturbing thing I've ever seen," Ian said behind him. Nico spun around.

"What, Miss Padma?"

"No, a close second to that." Nico was blank and Ian sighed. "Eileen just flirted with you!"

"Eileen? Like, your sister?"

"No, Eileen the captain of the badminton team in ninth grade who always eats carrots. Of _course_ Eileen my sister!" Ian said. "She's been flirting with you every time you come to our house, it's disgusting!"

"No she's not." Nico shrugged it off.

"Nico, have you forgotten what a girl flirting with you _is_?"

"Ian-"

"See- first, they start with the classic eyebrow twitch and eyes pulled to you by a mysterious magnetic field science should invest in. Then, they flick their hair because it works in shampoo commercials, so its got to work in real life- right?"

"Ian-"

"Every dude in this school, minus me and Derrick, and she's going for my best friend! Maybe it's about driving me nuts or traumatising me to the death or something."

"Ian don't freak. You're overreacting. She flicked her hair." Nico said.

"And batted her eyelash like she had eye twitches. And she's been wearing black for a long time now because she figures you're Goth and like Goth girls. And yesterday she had this walking-near-you-and-brushing-her-arm-against-yours thing that you didn't notice because you're dense that way, and she's been putting every guy on her list of next-up on hiatus."

"Okay." Nico said.

"Okay? Dude- how is this okay? My freaking little sister is _attracted_ to _you_. My _best friend._" Ian shuddered. "This is freaking disturbing!"

"You're overreacting. Say Eileen _has _been flirting with me all along, you know I would never date her. One, I've got Sarah. Two, you are my best friend. Three, she's not my type."

"Well, I'm glad you've got something in that head of yours except for Goth music and fudge, but Eileen still likes you."

"Ian- no offence to you or Eileen or anyone, but I've got bigger problems right now than a girl who 50/50 likes me." Nico told him.

Ian had noticed; Nico hadn't been all there since that morning. Or a long time. And Nico felt bad about not telling him straight away, but he'd never told anyone when he could help it.

"I'd say it's more of 98/2." Ian said. "How's Sarah?" He asked.

"I haven't talked to her since the third," Nico said. "I'm guessing she's okay."

"How do you know?" Ian asked.

"Nobody's bugged me today." Nico said.

Before, Nico could have been able to tell you if someone was dying or not. He'd stopped that.

When he stepped in of the hospital, those senses of his turned down by simple willpower. It was like he had no child of Hades senses in there. He'd discovered that if he blinked a few times and/or wacked himself on the head he could see everything, but it started to paranoia him, plus all the medical staff around him thought he was having a seizure of some sort. He stopped that pretty quickly and it sort of shut off on its own now. He didn't want to know how long Clay or Tommy or Maddy had left, and especially not Sarah.

"Is she really going to be okay Nico?" Ian asked. Nico turned his gaze towards his friend.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked.

"You didn't sound convinced when you said she was okay to Mom yesterday, and you seem nervous and sort of worried and quiet. Well, more worried and quieter. I was just wondering if I'm hallucinating like with the Miss Padma-is-pregnant thing, or…"

"She really didn't appreciate that comment." Nico said.

"Yeah, yeah. See, when you were standing outside the door of the detention room, I was the guy inside. And you can't blaim me-she gained a lot of weight very fast and she _was _being hormonal- but that's besides the point!" Ian said. He cocked his head and waited for answers. Ian was funny, carefree and laid back and he did do and say rash things ('hey Miss Padma!'), but he could also be the most sincere person.

"No," Nico sighed. "She's not going to be okay. They know it, she knows it, they're telling people now." He slammed his locker shut and leaned back against it.

"Sorry, man." Ian frowned.

"Nah, no problem." Nico said. "You can't do anything, and, you know, she's okay."

"Kay," Ian said sceptical. "I still get to meet her though, right?"

"Oh yeah. And please do me a favour- don't tell your mom about that."

"I might be master of back-of-the-room comments, but I'm not evil Nicky."

"Don't call me that."

"Nicky."

"You're lucky your name comes with no material." Nico said.

"Poor wittle Nicky. Common, we'll be late for Geography and Mr T's a psycho." He took a hippie voice, "You will anger the god of the school bell if you are late and you will be sentenced to the fields of eternal suffering and pain by the spirits of late homework."

"Sure," Nico said giving Ian a shove. He followed Ian to class feeling a weight off his chest, but still weighed down by what he thought was an anvil.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! I was going to post on Monday as usual but, well... _You _ask my internet connection why I couldn't, okay? Make it feel guilty for me. It deserves it. Oh- so do science labs. D-i-e.**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>IX<p>

**_December 5_**

Nico walked into the oncology ward and Crystal grabbed his arm.

She was everyone's favourite nurse, with red-brown curls framing her face and clear eyes. A pointed chin and high cheekbones, with earrings dangling made her striking face. She looked like a famous actress would, if she weren't wearing blue nurse uniforms.

"Nico, did you find out?" She asked him.

"About what?" He asked, heart suddenly frozen.

"Oh no…" She said. "Sarah… She didn't take it too well…"

"What happened?" Nico asked, on the verge of panic now.

"Maddy," Crystal said. "She… Last night."

Crystal didn't have to say anything else.

Nico felt his heart sink in his chest. Madeline Abbey… Dead? He looked subtly down the hallway to the room he'd seen Carl hang out around, and he immediately felt it. The smell of death. Although now he called it the stench of death.

"It was quiet," Crystal explained to him, "In her sleep, it didn't hurt. It wasn't expected, but the chemotherapy makes patients prone to infection, as you know. Sarah's had close calls, but Maddy's never been as strong and… It was her time."

"Man…" Nico said.

"Yeah," Crystal admitted sadly. "It's hard on everyone. Sarah especially."

Nico nodded. "I'll go see her. Thanks for the heads up Crystal."

"No problem, Nico." She said nicely. She patted his shoulder, and went on her way again.

Nico swallowed hard before peeking into Sarah's room. He knocked on the door to get her attention. Sarah turned around and saw him. Her eyes filled with even more pain.

Not a word was said.

Nico just dropped to one knee at her bedside and she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulders, holding tight. He hugged her back. Nico knew she was crying. He felt her shaky breath, heard the slight sound and felt her wet cheeks on his neck.

He held onto her and tried to be soothing- which he never was good at. Sarah had never cried like that before, though. Sure; she'd had horrible days when she was so sick and soar that she cried, she got homesick every now and then, but she wasn't a crier, even in the hell she was in.

"It's okay Sarah." He said it like Bianca would've told him. He had no better base for 'comforting' then that.

"Maybe to you, but not to me." Sarah said.

"Of course it's _not _okay to me, but what do you want me to say?" Nico asked softly. She took her arms from around his shoulders and collapsed back into her pillows. One of her hands reached for Nico's and the other tightened across her forehead.

"I can't believe it happened, but it did. Maddy was supposed to be recovering. She left so fast, nobody saw it coming, and she wasn't even terminal…" Sarah's tears renewed and Nico's stomach tightened. If Maddy had gone just like that, without any sign, someone terminally ill like Sarah… Sarah was thinking it too, in the back of her head. She cried and coughed at the same time which made her cry harder, frustrated with herself. Nico squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

"I didn't even get to see her recently because I've been coughing up blood and short of breath so easy or something capital R retarded like that." Sarah said, her eyes shut. Somehow tears always managed to squeeze through shut eyes.

"That's not your fault." Nico said, passing his thumb over her hand. "None of it is your fault, Sar."

Finally she calmed down a bit, and she dried her tears with the sleeve of the hoody she was wearing- Nico noticed it was one of his. A black one with a skull that she only wore when she was really cold or having a really bad and upsetting day. Nico forgot it once, and Sarah had been too tired to realise that it was his hoody that she was grabbing, and he never got around to bringing it back to Percy's.

"How was Ian's?" Sarah asked. She said it like 'help, distraction, distraction'.

"Good," Nico asked. "His aunt makes wicked tiramisu."

"Even better than the harpies?"

"Gods know how you got them to make that," Nico said.

"Nah, I didn't even tell them." Sarah said.

"And Ian says that he'll come see you sometime, whenever it's okay with you."

"Good, I thought you'd completely forget that." Sarah said.

"No," Nico said. "And Percy and Annabeth are finally engaged." Sarah smiled weakly.

"Finally! Imagine what their kids will look like, they're gonna be so cute and so hy-" Sarah stopped mid-sentence and Nico turned around to look at the door and he was shocked himself.

The woman standing there had fluffy brown hair like Sarah had once had, cut to her shoulders, except it was neater and less shaggy than Sarah's had ever been. She was in her forties or so, with brown eyes. She had a face that she worked too hard to keep young and she was tall and slim, wearing a dark blue business skirt, heals and a long trench coat. She carried a purse and was followed by a confused looking Doctor Squirt.

"_Mom?" _Sarah asked.

"Hello Sarah." She said.

"So, Sarah, you _do_ know this woman?" Squirt asked. The woman turned back, her lip curled.

"I told you, my name was Simone Barclay!" She said.

"Sorry ma'am, but we'd never heard of you." He said.

"Just because Sarah lives with her father's side of the family doesn't mean I don't exist." Simone Barclay said.

_You're nearly made it that way,_ Nico thought, thinking back on Simone and Sarah's history.

Nico was so bitter about that, it was one of his biggest pet peeves. Half-bloods were guaranteed to be minus one parent from the beginning; the gods weren't what you may call 'motherly' and 'fatherly'. But the mortal parents? Equally hard to nail. Sometimes they got couldn't do it, sometimes they died, and sometimes they didn't care. That made Nico feel like his mouth was filling with venom. Maria had died because of her demigod children and he found it an insult to her that some of the parents who didn't were plain crud- trying to change, pretend, ignore who their children were like Simone had done to Sarah so, _so _badly.

"Yes ma'am, sorry. If you need anything, please feel free." Squirt shot one more scrambled look at Sarah and Nico, Nico thought _oh damn it,_ and Squirt left after shooting Nico a 'I suppose you'll need good luck' look. Nico was half-tempted to follow before dynamite lit.

Sarah tried to dry her cheeks and make all evidence of her crying disappear.

"What are you doing here, Mom?" Sarah said, in the most dishonest 'mom' Nico had ever heard.

"You're in the hospital Sarah, I was worried about you."

Sarah blinked once or twice.

"I've been in the hospital for 2 years." Sarah said.

Simone had nothing to say about that, because they both knew it'd been two years with only email exchanges- and brief ones at that. Lots of demigods didn't get along with their mortal parents, or step-parents, and they generally learnt to live with that. Sarah didn't care much. But really?

"Hello young man. Who might you be?" Simone Barclay said turning to Nico, extending her hand.

"Umm-Nico di Angelo," he said shaking it uneasily, "The son of Hades."

"Ah," she said distastefully like 'Hades' meant 'pain and suffering' (well…). "A friend from camp."

Sarah's eyes said 'Hades no- I'll send you there if you do!', so Nico decided to go along with 'friend'.

There was a very awkward silence, like they'd run out of things to say. 'Hi, still alive, bye' had pretty much been the extent of communication between Sarah and her mom since she'd turned 13 and Simone had gotten married to the dreaded Lawyer who'd made Simone think that Sarah needed stricter education. That's when Sarah stopped coming for Christmas on purpose.

"Why are you here?" Sarah asked. Her voice was all weird from having cried, and Nico was pretty sure her mom could hear it too. But Nico felt more- like something was rising in Sarah. Something un-Sarah like.

"Sarah I told you…" Simone said confused.

"If you really were here to check up on your sick daughter, you'd-" Sarah went into a coughing fit and Nico squeezed her hand and she held her arm to her mouth. When it was over, she finished her sentence; "You'd have been here 2 years ago. So I ask again, why are you here?"

"Sarah!" Simone protested. Nico saw the look in Sarah's eyes and it was foreign to the teal shade. They were glassed over, unusually hard and cold, bitter and mad. Very mad.

"Look," Sarah said, "If I really mattered to you, you would've been here already. You would've been here when I was throwing up all over the place because of chemo, or helping me read Ken-ken puzzles when my vision got blurry, and helping me understand what the doctors were saying. You would've come when you heard, and you would've been there."

"You never asked Sar-"

"I shouldn't have to ask!" Sarah snapped. "I shouldn't have to ask to for a mother! I couldn't bring myself to ask because if you'd have said no, my whole world would've crumbled even more and I couldn't even trust you to say yes!" Sarah said.

Nico saw tears prickle her eyes and it made him nearly as upset and distraught as Sarah was. He wasn't used to seeing her cry and it was like a cave-in; everything on her weight at once. Nico wanted to take some weight off her shoulders but he had no idea how without just adding some.

Simone Barclay pinched her lips and her eyes widened. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't used to Sarah, especially not a Sarah that was cracking like she was now.

She started coughing again and Nico squeezed her hand. Simone Barclay looked uncomfortable, but stiffened when Sarah looked up with her eyes, hard as diamonds.

"I don't want you to come because you feel sorry for me, and I know you didn't come because you care about me."

"Sarah I'm your mother!"

"A mother who married a man who was forcing me into being something I am _so _far from being! A mother who closed her eyes when he told me I should work harder, or stop fooling around! A mother who wished for another child instead of the one that was trying and working her freaking butt off to make you proud! Hell, you never noticed that! A C+ is miracle work for me, but it was always failure for the Lawyer, and for you! Well guess what Mom; I'm not that child anymore! I'm done trying to make you proud, I'm done trying to make anyone proud! I don't have the energy or the time to do that anymore, I just have enough of that to spend with people that actually care, not people who swung by because they felt sorry!" Sarah yelled.

"The time?" Simone asked, confused.

"Don't you hear me when I'm talking?" Sarah yelled. "Don't you understand what I _just said!_"

"Sar…" Nico said.

"Nico- this isn't your fight!" Sarah snapped at him.

"This shouldn't be a fight." Simone said.

"You made it that, _Mom_! You made it a fight when you tried to make me perfect!" Sarah told her. Doctor Squirt appeared in the doorframe, his smile gone and face strict.

"Is everything okay?" He said. But it wasn't really a question.

"No," Sarah said. "It's not okay."

Her tone was just inches away from screaming at Doctor Squirt too.

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way," Simone said in a 'sorry' more insincere than Sarah's 'mom'. "But if you honestly do-"

"-Oh I do!"

"Then I have no business here."

"If you don't have any business with a kleptomaniac little girl who hated school and liked to laugh: then you don't have any business with me, no matter what. You've got no right to watch me die without watching me live." Sarah said. Simone gave Sarah a look.

"Die?"

"Leave." Sarah said coldly. Nico saw emotions pass in Simone's eyes. Questions, doubt, understanding, shock… He half-expected her to apologise, to realise, to cry. He knew that if he'd ever twisted Sarah in an angle she couldn't be bent, and he'd found that out, he wouldn't have said what she'd said.

"Goodbye Sarah."

And she walked out of the room.

"Umm, Ma'am… Ma'am, I need to speak to you…" Doctor Squirt said turning around to catch up with Simone. She was going to get 'the talk'.

Sarah turned her head towards the window, covered her face and started sobbing again.

Nico got up, closed the door, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop crying," he said. "It's okay."

"Is it okay to you, or do you not know what to say?" Sarah asked softly.

"Option B." Nico said. Sarah nodded and Nico lied down next to her, gathering her in his arms. She turned and buried her face in his chest, her hand resting on his shoulder, gripping him for something solid. Something that wouldn't die on her, something that wouldn't hurt, something that wouldn't leave…

"You're okay Sarah… If you honestly wanted her out of your life, then you're okay."

"I didn't want her out of my life," Sarah said, her voice croaky. "I wanted the old her back in my life."

"She didn't want the old her back and she isn't it," Nico said softly, trying not to make things worse than they already were for Sarah. "You're going to have to find other people to lean on, now."

"Would people whose chests I lie my head on count?" She asked softly. Nico kissed the top of her neck.

"Yes," he said. "I'm there for you. I always will be." She sniffed again.

"Thanks Nico." She sighed. "It's the day from hell. Why did she come- why did Maddy die- why on the same freaking day? Sometimes I wonder when the days from heaven come around. Sometimes I wonder if they will come around before… Whatever."

"Get some sleep, Sarah, you'll feel better." Nico told her.

When Squirt came back, he didn't say anything to Nico. He just mouthed 'is she okay?', nodded when Nico mouthed 'yes', and left them alone, closing the door again.

Nico kept thinking back to the outburst fight between Sarah and her mom, and Sarah's state of emotional ruins right now. It was like the universe had scored a bulls eye- two disasters in one day, one bombing to the person and a collapse. Sarah had never, _ever _done that.

He wondered if that was because she'd actually been burying her emotions all these months, and he'd just not noticed that she wanted her mother there for her. Or maybe Sarah had gotten over it before he'd noticed, or it was under her conscience, like it never hit her fully that she wanted it…

Maybe Sarah wasn't as easy to read as everyone presumed. If that was the case, how scared was she right now? Very scared? Was she just holding her head high like a hero? Nico wouldn't wish any of those emotions or possibilities on anyone now that he saw how destroyed Sarah had been. It made him feel even more horrible about his failure with Thanatos and the Nosoi and even more determined for his second trip to the Underworld.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hola, I now have 4 people on my back about not killing Sarah... Yeay... So if Sarah dies- I do too. Oh, and one knows karate and the other does wrestling. Am I dead meat or what? (if Sarah dies- tuh-tuh-tuh-tuh)**

**It's been one year since the Lost Hero came out. Woo-hoo! So this is, like, a celebration chapter even if it's not a party-worthy-chapter. Oh, just read!**

**Disclaimer: If I'm writing one, I'm not RR**

* * *

><p>X<p>

_**December 5**__**th**_

Doctor Squirt knocked soon and Percy was with him. Nico figured that he must've kept his cousin waiting in the parking lot, and he'd finally come to check on him.

Very delicately, as to not wake up or disturb Sarah, he got up. He quickly ripped a page from his math notes (hopefully a page whose content he'd already been graded on), wrote 'Everything's going to be okay, don't you cry', folded it, and left it on her bedside table.

Nico nodded his goodbyes to Doctor Squirt and he and Percy were silent as they left.

Once Nico and Sarah had been lying down together near the forest, and Percy, Connor and Travis had snuck up on them, yelled 'ROAR' and thrown buckets of pineapple juice (to this day- no idea) onto them. Percy seemed to understand this time; he didn't laugh.

"She had a Styx day." Nico confessed. "A girl died, one of her friends. She wasn't even terminal, but just like that, lightning fast. It's making her nervous for… Whatever. She's been sick all day; she's been stuck in bed with her thoughts and nothing else. Her mom came over after 2 years of nothing, and they had a fight."

"Ah," Percy said although it sounded more like 'ouch'. He squeezed Nico's shoulder, "It'll be okay."

"No," Nico said, "It won't."

Percy didn't try his luck with Nico for the whole ride home, seeing that his cousin was in a bad mood and Nico locked himself in his room after saying hi to Annabeth and making a face at Thalia (who was back for some reason) that'd come up with a new nickname for him. He even forgot to congratulate Annabeth on the wedding.

He opened a random binder from his bag and took out a ruled sheet of paper. He scribbled down 'Be back shortly' on it and stuck it on his bed. That's when he realised he'd taken it from the 1 1/2 inch binder.

"Oh common!" Nico said in frustration. He kicked it across the room, same motive.

Nico was ticked off because of the stupid jocks at school, Miss Padma's constant reminders for her stupid emotions essay, Simone Barclay making everything collapse on Sarah just because she _had_ to ease a conscience that should be guilty as Hades... The little things were starting to bother him, like bee stings. They didn't hurt that bad, but you still hated bee-kind for it.

He took a deep breath. He was going to go see gods –maybe the most powerful gods; he didn't know how touchy they'd be, and he didn't want to find out.

He shadow traveled.

He was near Thanatos' cave again, except the god wasn't there. Some of his coal black butterflies were still hanging around, perched on the cave's lip. Nico paid no attention to them.

He didn't actually _know_ how to get where he needed to go. He just crossed his fingers that it was here, and that he'd figure it out before Hades or Percy or anyone could find out about it.

He closed his eyes, hoping that he'd be able to visualise where he had to go. He'd often done that to find his way in the Underworld. Not so much now, but when he'd been 10 years old, completely lost and had just… Shadow-traveled himself somewhere safe, somewhere where he could hide and not be found by Percy. His father had quickly found him and explained; but later on while Hades was busy, Nico had roamed. He knew the Underworld well enough for a mortal- too bad he'd never gone where he needed to now.

"Son of Hades, you can't go where your mind is set!" Someone called after him. He spun around and saw Hecate, the goddess standing behind me, her hands pulling the hood of her cape off her head.

"What do you mean 'I can't'?"

"Where you seek to go is veiled to even immortals, if you come you will come out but never leave!" Hecate said.

"I have to, Lady Hecate." Nico said.

"It is madness."

"Then I have to do something mad." Nico said. "You won't stop me, will you? Unless you go to my father."

Hecate sniffed with disdain.

What people didn't get about the magic goddess was that she'd been there for longer than anybody else. Unless she felt like it; you weren't getting anything out of her. She knew that, Nico knew that, and the gods knew that- so Hecate being told to go suck up was like telling Annabeth to stop reading.

"I will do no such thing. Nico, I don't want to see you get burnt by a flame whose heat you do not comprehend. I don't want to see you standing in the lines to the judgement pavilion right now."

"Well, nobody seems to care about other people standing in that line, so I'm going to do something about it." Nico said briskly. Hecate shook her head.

"Nico, you are so young but so old at the same time. You have been through things that children should not, and grown into a man that no man wants to be, but that they all do at the same time. Nico, you are unique, maybe unique enough for your plan to succeed." Hecate said.

And she disappeared, like an IM being cut, leaving Nico with those puzzle words.

Nico closed his eyes.

_I need to find them… Klotho, Lakhesis and Atropos. I need to find them more than anything…_

He would've settled with instincts flaring up, or his feet to just bring him on one side, but he got a voice that he'd never heard and said;

"Open your eyes, brave boy, open your eyes." It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight.

He did and he realised he was standing in a circular room- made of stone. It was completely closed in, like a cage with no holes, and had a claustrophobic feel to it that Nico didn't mind. Standing in the centre of it was a stone basin, with white smoke pouring out like liquid nitrogen. It swarmed around the feet of the three women standing around it.

They were all ancient. As old as time itself. Their faces were wrinkled with too many wrinkles to count, and pale, but somehow they still looked very, very much alive. Their gray hair was tied back and they wore long white dresses, and cloaks. Nico's throat tightened. He'd known what they looked like; he'd known who they were and what they did. But they still made him feel to small and tiny and insignificant compared to them. Technically he was.

"Are you the fates?" He asked. They nodded.

"You're all-knowing then." They nodded again, as if speech must be avoided at all costs.

"Then you know why I'm here."

Nico noticed that the smoke wasn't smoke like he thought, or liquid nitrogen. It seemed to be a thousand figures. Letters –either English, Greek or from some language forgotten-. numbers, Roman numerals, symbols that Nico had never seen, animals, happy children, newborn babies, sick old men, sleeping grandmothers, grown adults holding hands and sitting at tables, dripping weapons, monster heads, trophies and…

"Look up, or you will get lost. Humans can never keep up, brave boy. Your brains are not made for knowing everything, your eyes not ready to see it all…" When one fate spoke, all three voices rang in Nico's ears.

"Right- sorry- but you do know why I'm here?"

"Of course we do," one said.

"We're the reason you were here in the first place, remember?"

"So can you save help her? Help me?" Nico said his voice low.

"We have helped you Nico,"

One fate waved her hand over the stone basin and figures appeared over the top. A short boy with shaggy hair sitting at the foot of a big and ancient tree with branches crooked like wicked witch fingers. He held a small toy soldier –no, a figurine of some sort- in his hand and with a groan of frustration, threw it. It came rushing to Nico and he caught it- his fingers closing over something solid even if he saw smoke. It was a Mythomagic figurine- the last one he'd ever collected; his father.

A new figure jogged into scene, stopped nearby and extended her hand.

"We've sent you Sarah." A fate said.

Nico's stomach seemed to collapse on the spot and he suddenly felt very tired of this. Very tired of cancer, tired of always being worried about her, tired of always having ghosts waiting in line to harass him…

"Then help me help her. Help Sarah, save her. The world deserves to have Sarah."

"How do you know? We've created the world. Maybe the world of tomorrow would be better off if she died tonight. Maybe the world tomorrow wouldn't be a place for her, maybe the world tomorrow wouldn't deserve her like you think.

"Because everyone deserves Sarah," Nico whispered. "Because everyone deserves to fall in love with someone who's their best friend. Everyone deserves to have kisses that sweet. Everyone deserves to laugh and smile until they think it's frozen on their faces."

The same fate as earlier waved her hand above the basin and the smoke reformed, but Nico passed the scene in his head, remembering the colours and breezes and background noises.

_Nico had been cooped up in the Hermes cabin and sent on his merry way, to fend for himself, learn how to play poker on the spot, and figure out how to separate the truth and lies in what the Hermes kids told him (for instance; demigods did _not _spit gumballs). _

_What you've got to know is that being at camp when you're under the average age- especially now that small, untrained half-bloods were most often shot down- was very lonely as 12 year olds can be scary, or jerks, or something._

_Sarah was 10 too, so it was natural that they eventually ended up together._

"_Hi. My name's Leela Caldera." Sarah said in a total lie._

"_Nico di Angelo." He said. "Are you a daughter of Hermes? Do they just not know where to put you? Can you teleport?"_

"_Yes, no, I tried. Sometimes I close my eyes and I moved places but it's usually because Connor threw me in the canoe lake or something like that." _

"_Can you, like, read minds?"_

"_No."_

"_Can you control snakes?"_

"_Can you make yourself transparent?"_

"_No."_

"_Then duck!" Sarah pushed Nico down just as an empty can of spray cheese flew across cabin 11 at 4:49 in the morning. Nobody had slept yet. _

"_Thanks Leela! You have, like, super reflexes!" _

"_You get used to it." Sarah shrugged. "And my name's not Leela."_

"_I thought you said it was?"_

"_No," Sarah said shaking her head, "Leela is the girl with the missing finger over there, the one strangling Connor- yes, that one. Don't worry its okay. It's easy to confuse people here. My name is Alex."_

"_Okay, Alex, got it." Nico said. "How long have you been here?" _

"_A few months."_

"_Why are you here if you're only 10? The Orientational film says that demigods arrive at camp between the ages of 12 and 14 usually." Nico asked. Sarah shrugged._

"_My mom and I got into a fight. She's always bossing me around and she doesn't care. 'Don't do this, study harder, study first, not an acceptable grade, Anika that will stain!' Like that's not the whole point of redecorating!" Nico laughed but froze._

"_Anika?" He asked. "You said Alex."_

"_What? No, Nico, I didn't. My name's Anika. Alex's the one with the long black hair over there, the one strangling Travis- yes, that one. But don't worry, it's easy to get confused here, there are always a lot of people." Sarah shrugged like it was no deal. Nico looked at her sceptically. _

"_What's your real name?" He asked._

"_Anika Caldera. Are you feeling okay Nico?"_

"_You said Leela, then Alex, how did Anika happen?"_

"_No Nico, I said she was Leela, that was Alex, and I'm Anika." Sarah said, enjoying the different ways Nico's eyes were squinting and how rusty the wheels were turning. She loved confusing people._

"_Hey, Nico, can you do me a favour?" Sarah asked._

"_Sure, do what?" Nico asked eagerly. "Polish a sword, scrape monster guts off armour?" _

"_No," Sarah said. She slipped something out of her pocket; a photograph folded in two and slapped it in Nico's hand. "I want you to give this to Travis Stoll. Give it to him, and run, kay Nico?" _

"_Why?"_

"_Just do it." Sarah said. "He dropped it and my knee hurts from Capture-the-flag."_

"_Sure," Nico said. Sarah loved this kid- he was so gullible and innocent! She hoped he'd stay in cabin 11 for long. But not long enough for him to catch on or for him to go to the Titan side of everything. _

_He walked over to Travis, handed him the slit of paper and ran back as Travis yelled 'WHAT!' He stalked over to them._

"_Nico, where did you find this?" He held up a picture of Katie Gardner, horseback at the farm her dad owned. She wore blue jeans, a light top and a bandana to cover her rich brown hair._

"_Anika gave it to me." He said. Sarah nearly lost it and started laughing right there._

"_Anika? Who the Hades is Anika?" Travis said, suddenly very loud. _

"_Her." Nico said pointing towards Sarah. "You mean… It was Alex?" Travis started laughing right there. _

"_Nico, that idiot is Sarah Barclay." Travis said mid-laugh. "Don't trust anything she ever tells you." A few other kids were laughing, and eventually Nico did too._

"_Sorry Nico, it's like a second nature to me." Sarah apologised, laughing like heck. _

"_I'm never listening to anything you tell me ever again." _

"_You'll miss the parties if you do."_

"_Parties? I mean- no, not falling for that one." Nico said crossing his arms._

The figures evaporated.

"That?" The fates asked.

"Yes," Nico breathed. "Everyone deserves _that _to happen to them."

"But if everyone strikes gold, resources will run out." The fates said.

"That wasn't my point," Nico said. "Please. Save her."

The fates were quiet for a second.

"We can't."

"Take my life," Nico said. "Take my life and let her live hers."

"We can't."

"Why?" Nico asked. "Why not? Nobody will miss me. But people will miss Sarah. They'll cry for her, they'll curse fate, they'll put flowers on her grave and they'll remember her forever!"

"And you honestly believe that nobody would for you?"

"Well maybe but…" Nico's brain had gone fuzzy. He couldn't say no to them, he knew that some people did care about him, but he didn't want to lose Sarah.

"We do not work with soul for a soul." They said. "It never prevails, as I'm sure you know."

Nico felt even worst when he had to remember Bianca too. He remembered the confusion, the sorrow, the grief, the pain… The hunger for revenge, the thoughts inside of him that blamed Percy and the gods… Yeah, he wasn't proud of those but they'd been there, shouted loud and clear, as if in Caps Lock. Nico wasn't ready to go through those emotions again. He wasn't sure he was over the first set yet.

Nico looked at the ground.

"There's nothing I could possibly do? I don't care what it is or what the risks are. Just something." Nico said.

"You plead to the fates to go back on their words. You are a brave boy. A strange boy. But still brave."

"I'm willing to do anything," Nico said. "I'd travel the world if it could save her."

"What if nothing could save her? What would you do then?"

"What I'm doing now," Nico said. "I'd keep trying. I wouldn't give up on her."

"It's not giving up. When she came to you in the Hermes cabin 7 years ago, that was picking up something. But this; this isn't giving up."

"You mean letting her die?"

"Exactly."

Nico took a deep breath.

"I've let people around me die forever. There has to be something to do about it. There just has." Nico said.

"Well, there's not." The fates said. "Lakhesis, show him."

One of the fates went to the wall and systematically, she pressed her palm to one spot. Suddenly blue strings –billions of blue strings- hung from everywhere, each labeled with a name written in black chicken scratch. Nico felt wrapped inside a sweater. He recognised the names of some famous people, some people on the news, demigods, people at the hospital… He must be in the New York residence section of things.

The immortal plucked one string off the wall and showed it to Nico. It didn't have that sort of glow like the others. It was nearly completely cut in half, and it was all bunched up against itself, lying flat in the fates' hand.

"That's… That's Sarah's?" Nico said, surprised that his words could pass through the mass taking over his throat.

"Sarah Maxine Barclay." One fate said, "Her thread was spun on November 21st 1999. A windy day with a shining sun none the less, she was born late afternoon."

Nico looked at his feet in the cavern. He wondered how the sun would be like when Sarah died.

"What do I do now?" He asked. "If I'm too much of an idiot to save her…"

"Nico, stop that." Someone from behind said.

Bianca di Angelo wore the silvery clothes of a huntress, had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and Nico recognised her immediately. Her dark eyes looked a little sad, and the quiver on her back and the scabbard on her sides were loaded with Scythian Iron weapons.

"Bianca?"

"Stop that. You're blaming yourself for something that you don't have any control over."

"I'm the son of Hades, I should be able to do _something_."

"But you can't, Nico." Bianca said. "I couldn't stop death when it came to get _me_. Why would you be able to do any different?"

"Because I'm trained, claimed, I'm older than you were." Nico said.

"Nico, I already suspected my parentage by that point, because of the skeleton I stabbed. Trust me Nico; stop breaking your own heart. You can't do it."

Nico turned his head away from Bianca, away from the fates.

A hand was put on his shoulder.

"When I was inside of Talos," Bianca said, "I prayed to Hades. But not for him to save me, because no god can stop the inevitable. And I knew that. I prayed for my death to count. I prayed for it to save my friends. But you know what else Nico? You know what I prayed for first?"

"No." Nico said, not caring much either.

"I prayed for you to be okay." Bianca said. "For you to be able to deal with being a child of the Big 3 on your own, for you to find somewhere safe to be, to learn about yourself and who you are. I prayed for someone to take care of you. And I was granted it. Hades took you in, then Chiron, Percy and Sarah. Sarah helped you, but you can't keep people with you forever."

"I'm not asking for forever."

"But what difference does it make? For her to die now or in 20 years? She'll still die and you'll still have to face yourself."

"It seems stupid. To be scared of death." He said softly.

"But everyone is afraid of it. Ask the bravest heroes of myth, ask the new heroes of Olympus, ask Chiron, ask _dad_ for that matter."

He spun around to face her. "Dad?"

"You have to leave Nico. Just… Keep thinking about everything that you've been told, the dreams you've had… They're always more than you think. I love you."

"I love you too." Nico said.

And just like that the fates transported him back to the apartment.

Nico dropped on his bed. He felt worse than he ever had. Worse than when Bianca died and he'd been such a 4 feet some of angst, worse than after he'd cast away Minos and realised how guilty he was, worse than when he and Sarah hadn't been around each other after their first kiss…

He trusted the fates- we all had to. But not in the way that we believed that they were fair and that they would make everything turn out alright; but he believed they wouldn't lie to him. Which meant Nico was officially empty-handed about this.

And everything else he'd ever been empty-handed about had ended in disaster.

There was a knock on his door.

"Nico, you back yet?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Are you going to show any sign of life?"

"No, I'm good in here." He said.

Thalia would usually have teased him back but the girls had probably forced Percy to spill everything. Nico didn't blame him; Thalia and Annabeth combined should count as a force of nature.

He lied on his back for a long time, just staring at the ceiling and half-hoping it would collapse on top of him and take away the numbness of everything. He felt too disappointed to cry. He'd been sure the fates could help Sarah. Could help one person worth saving. After all; there had to be one person that was so funny, friendly, good and nice worth saving. Worth keeping alive, worth seeing the future and worth living their lives. If there wasn't; it made the world that much darker. Nico might now know the most, or have seen the most things; but if there were those people on the earth, he was pretty sure that Sarah was one of them.

He'd shadow traveled more than he should've, and eventually he just drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm answering your plea Nala- you're welcome. I can only post on this one because I'm only one person that's a couple of minutes away from girlguide camp. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>XI<p>

_**December 10th-11th**_

He swung back upright, powered by hunger. What day was it even? He'd been sleeping- he remembered that. Shadow travel was a pain sometimes. He looked at his alarm clock, and saw the date; it was late on the 10th. Okay, he'd slept through one day, it could have been worst.

That's when he eyed the 1 ½ binder. Shoot, that project was due tomorrow! Oh man…

He willingly picked it up for the first time in weeks (although it was pretty much against his will too) and opened it to the right spot. He reread the instructions.

_[i]Transmitting emotions to the reader is part of any good writing. Convey the following emotions based on one of your memories. Each emotion must have a text between 1 paragraph and 1 page long. Write double spaced, spelling and grammar will not be taken into consideration but extra credit may be given and give each text a title. You will have to read your text to the class and they will rate how you transferred the emotion on a scale of 1-5. Presentations are due on December 11__th__ at the last period. _

_-Happiness _

_-Anger_

_-Sorrow[/i]_

Colour commentating flashed in Nico's head with each passing sentence and he stared blankly at a spare sheet of paper.

He got up and went back to the living room. Annabeth was back at sketching, and there seemed to be no sign of Percy and Thalia.

"Annabeth? I need help." He said feeling like a baby. She looked up.

"Sure, come here." She said putting her sketch pad on the coffee table. The paper was graphic, tons of little blue squares all over the place. Nico sat down and showed her the assignment and she started reading.

"Where did Percy and Thalia go?" He asked as she read.

"They were fighting again, so I told them to get out of here before they broke anything and they took it literally." She said. Nico noticed the ring on the fingers holding the paper. It was silver, and looked like it'd been cut down the center with an axe, only connected by a diamond. It was a split shank ring or some other name that sounded like a disorder of the digestive system.

He only knew about it because the children of Hermes had decided to post Nico as a decoy while they penetrated the Aphrodite cabin. Nico had had to pick his favourite between teal and aqua (what the heck was the difference?), comment on the pros and cons of Gucci and Coco Chanel (were those their actual names?), and pick which color went well on an ashy blonde (was there even a difference between ashy, sandy and strawberry blond? Weren't those just fancy words to say 'blond'? Nico was so confused. Colours were so much easier in kindergarten).

"Nice ring." Nico said.

"Thank you," Annabeth said. "He did really well."

She didn't take her eyes off the assignment until she started reading. Annabeth passed her tongue over her upper lip.

"Okay, let's start with happiness." She said, "Something that you had fun doing. Something that made you happy, or proud."

"It's all demigod stuff, Annabeth." Nico said thinking back.

Finding out he was a demigod had been cool, but then Bianca had joined the hunters.

Or when his dad had been proud of him on Olympus after the Titan war; that hadn't been a bad day either.

But to soften the mystical, magical, godly part of it was pretty much the whole thing right now.

Dumping Percy and Annabeth in the canoe lake? That had been hilarious, and they _totally _had it coming. Or the year after when cabin 11 had organized a flash mob and done it all over again, leaving Percy and Annabeth at the bottom of the lake and the rest of them to party. That had been hell of a party…

Or when he'd helped the Hermes cabin rig camouflaged catapults throw water balloons around the amphitheatre during a lecture on summer's hottest day.

Or the last day of camp when the Stoll brothers (or at least the older one) was 18 (meaning now there was college and apartment and blah, blah, blah, not camp), and had decided to go out with a bang?

They'd rigged water to sprinkle down like rain onto the dinning pavilion, and fountains to shoot water across the property, confetti cannons to shoot bits of paper that were revealed to be the residues of the 432 letters that Mr D had sent to Ms. Stoll since they'd gotten to camp considering disciplinary issues or 'please take notice that your son is currently a bush. Do not try to contact him for bushes cannot talk.'

To top it off, Travis had arranged for fireworks to boom throughout the night, and spray-painted one of the camp vans in bright, red 'LATER SUCKAS!'

"_Those jerks!" Sarah said. "How could they not let me in on this?" They were in the dinning pavilion like most of camp. As last day special, Mr D had gone all out because he was getting rid of Percy, Annabeth, Katie, Travis, Connor, Butch, Leo, Lou Ellen, and all that wave of demigods. He'd cut camp short of a week already to make it happen sooner, he'd allowed them to sit at random tables, to skip schedule, and he hadn't turned one person into a shrub yet._

_Sarah's eyes sparkled like gemstones and the crinkled smile hung on her lips. Her brown hair was flattening out, losing the fluff-factor. People were laughing, freaking out, trying to locate Travis and Connor in an angry-mob attempt, and splashing each other with the water accumulated in cups, held out hands, or open mouths (child of Hermes). _

_A few people had started dancing in the rain, including Katie and Travis, Percy and Annabeth and Leo and Connor ('mock the couples, mock the couples!' Connor had screamed- Leo was conveniently close enough and short and funny). _

"_Wanna dance?" Sarah asked. Nico held out his hand and she took it._

"_You bet." Nico said. They danced as long as the rest of the campers, going from ridiculous waltz imitations that made Nico's side hurt from laughing, to slow dancing, to screwed-up tango, and Sarah trying to call back on the ballet courses she'd been forced by her mother to attend (and kicked out from) when she was five. It didn't work, but they were both laughing like hell._

_The Apollo cabin had broken out their best guitarist who was playing a slow song. Sarah had her head on Nico's shoulder and her arms around his neck. He rested his chin on her head and the moment was just that good. The flash-mob had broken to a flash-dance, which only a place with children of Hermes can do, really. _

_Over Sarah's head, Nico saw Chiron smiling at his campers and Mr D starring at his watch, waiting for the big hand to land on the 12 and the little hand to land on the 4. 4 hours left. Nico wished it was a million hours of just him and Sarah._

"The day you guys left camp." Nico said.

"Hey!"

"No- not because you left! Because of the- you know- what the Stolls did." Nico said.

"Oh yeah…" Annabeth's eyes shinned in her own memories of that. "That was fun. How about you write that one last out of your three? You get the bad out, and then you've got the good."

Nico nodded although he didn't see how it made a difference.

"What about anger?" Annabeth asked.

When Percy had told him that Bianca had died.

When Bianca had joined the hunters.

When Midas had betrayed him and tried to kill him, Percy, Annabeth, Rachel and Daedalus.

Every day after Bianca had died for a while.

When Toby Machiavelli had flirted with Sarah the summer before Sarah had gotten sick. When Sarah had told him she'd had cancer and it was her out of all the people a disease could latch onto.

"I don't know." Nico said. Annabeth laced her fingers.

"I think you do, you just don't know what to pick." Annabeth said. She was nice about it, but Nico knew it was true.

"Yeah, maybe I don't."

"Alright; just think about this. Bianca's social security number and any paperwork about her was destroyed when she joined the hunt, and she's not on your file, so as big as that is in your life, you can't mention her in case your teacher checks." Annabeth said.

"How do you know all this?" Nico asked. Annabeth ignored him. Knowing Annabeth, maybe it was better if Nico never found out.

"What else were you thinking?"

"I don't know. Midas and the whole 'ghost king' thing." Nico said. "But I guess that I couldn't smooth that out without totally changing it."

"Probably not." Annabeth admitted. "What else is on your list?"

Nico stayed quiet.

"Toby Machiavelli, son of Apollo. Flirted with Sarah before. Totally annoying, nearly killed him." Nico said.

"Yeah, I remember him. Do you want to write about Toby?"

"No," Nico said without thinking. His brain started working like it'd gotten a slap from his conscience. "I mean- yes. Yes, of course, what else?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and extracted the information from him via sheer glare.

"I mean no." Nico said. "He was annoying, and I was mad at him, and I wanted to smack him and make Sarah never see him again, but… It wasn't that strong of a feeling."

"So what was?"

"When Bianca died. When Sarah got sick." Annabeth nodded.

"It would be difficult to change the version of Bianca's death, but not impossible if you really want to talk about it. And Sarah would be perfectly passible as one." Nico nodded.

"I think I want to talk about Bianca," he said.

"Mmm-kay… Well, it could happen. Maybe she could be… A cousin or something."

"Percy and Thalia are my cousins. Bianca can't be. It was more than that." Nico said.

"Okay. She could be… Best friend?"

Nico felt like he'd gotten a punch to a stomach. That basically was what Bianca had been. For a long, long time. She'd been a million things and then she'd been nothing but the sister who'd joined the hunt. Then she'd been the dead sister he wanted back with all his heart.

"Okay." Nico said.

"Start wherever you want."

Nico chewed on the end of his pencil for a bit, and when he got the feeling in his mouth that the eraser was flaking off turned to Annabeth.

"Help me."

"I can't," Annabeth said. "These are your emotions. I don't know how you felt when Bianca died. This is all you, Nico."

"Is that why I hate it so much?" Nico asked. Annabeth looked at him deeply.

"I don't know Nico," she said. Nico turned back to his binder. He had to give _something _in, right? He just put his pencil to the paper and wrote down whatever. Annabeth didn't read over his shoulder or anything. She sketched out a building that looked like a temple and sky scraper mix. It looked right out of a science-fiction novel and Nico thought that it should appear at the corner of the street right away.

"Okay," Nico said. He almost felt sorry to be the reason that her pencil stopped flying across the paper.

"Okay, next up." Annabeth looked down at it and she suddenly looked touchy. Like she was trying to figure out how to pick up a grenade.

"Sorrow." Nico said for her.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "Sorrow."

They sort of just looked at each other.

"Should I just hand in a list?" Nico asked her. Annabeth shook her head.

"What are you going to write about?" She asked.

"Lists are easy and convenient."

"Nico…"

"People make lists for like, groceries and records, and there's the world famous to-do list; I think that the concept should pop up in class too."

"Nico." Annabeth snapped, to prove she was a woman with a point (which is counted as a force of nature). "Seriously. It's due tomorrow. You don't have time to mess around with it, you already have for gods-know how long. What are you going to write about?"

"I don't know," Nico shrugged.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know."

"Look, Nico, I'm not an idiot. You know exactly what you can write about. You're just not going to tell me because you're a closed up sort of person. And that's okay. But you're going to have to write it eventually. You're going to have to admit you're sad. You're going to have to admit that you're not as inanimate as a corpse. Sarah blew some life into you, and that comes with emotions and you're dealing with those. You're just going to run in circles if you don't. I can't help you until you realise that. Not with this homework." Annabeth said. Nico sunk back in the couch and brought up his legs. He let his head drop.

"Right now." Nico said quietly.

"What do you mean 'right now'?" Nico asked.

"For sorrow." He said. "Right now. I feel useless and horrible and pained and struggling."

"About Sarah?"

"About everything." Nico said.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth said, trying to coax Nico for information. He might have answered, he might have not. Either way the door opened to Thalia and Percy arguing.

"That was more than just a splash!"

"That was not a static shock either! There's this huge hole right there- don't pretend you don't see it!"

"It's already _snowing _outside, why would I need to be _drenched in freaking water?_"

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked patiently. They both yelled either 'she zapped me!' or 'he splashed me!'

Nico honestly couldn't care less about what the heck they were doing to each other; they were only good that way as entertainment.

He wasn't in the mood for that so disappeared again to his room. He dropped the binder to his bed. He stood there watching it, in a moment of stupid and pointlessness, before opening it.

Sorrow.

Seriously; Nico was really considering the list.

* * *

><p>Nico drummed his pencil on the table nervously. Last period English; he hated it. He'd hated it even more when Miss Padma had introduced to them her incredible idea.<p>

"Instead of me taking in all your assignments; you're going to read them to the class and we're going to see how much of a reaction you get from others!"

No. Bad idea. Very bad. Tartarus material.

Nico wished classrooms were democratic because he was sure others felt the same way.

There wasn't even that one kid that figures 'ah, let's get it over with' during oral presentations in Nico's class, so they always just stared at each other awkwardly and crossed fingers and toes as Miss Padma named off random people. This one girl did braids too.

The presentations had been long and boring. People talked about their dead dogs, losing a teacher, a grandparent, several hamsters, one girl had lost her mother…

And now, with 13 minutes left before the bell rang, Nico's nerves weren't right. Maybe he could escape the day, talk to Miss Padma, argue his way out of it, maybe fake his own death and move to Chicago overnight.

"Alright!" Miss Padma said in a cheery tone. "Next up we'll have… Bryce Carlton."

There were a few 'yes'!' and Bryce got all pouty. Nico had no sympathy for Bryce, and felt way too revealed about escaping it himself to feel sorry for the guy. He was a total jerk and bullied a lot, with a new cheerleader each week (you'd think he'd run out of cheerleaders, but no).

Nico sat through a boring presentation. Well, everyone else laughed, but Nico's head wasn't there. Happiness; first kiss. Anger; got dumped. Sorrow; having to waste his time and look 'sorrow' up in the dictionary.

Nico felt like hitting this guy.

The bell rung, everyone sprinted out as Miss Padma yelled 'remember- everyone goes tomorrow!'

Nico swung his backpack over his shoulder and went to talk to Miss Padma.

"Umm, Miss Padma?" He asked.

"Yes Coco, what can I do for you today? What's going on in Di Angelo's life?"

_You don't want to know and I don't want to tell you._

"Umm, do I have to present in front of everyone?"

"You most certainly do, Peanutville." She said. Where the heck did she come up with these things?

"It's, umm, I don't want to." Nico said.

"Nico, I don't want to work, I don't want to pick up milk from the grocery store, I don't want to walk the dog. It's a part of life, kiddo, you're going to have to do like everyone else, I can't permit myself to spare you." Nico knew she had no chance of knowing, but her casual tone set him on edge.

"You don't understand." He spat out.

"I understand you want detention if you're talking to me that way!" She said. "Watch your tone."

"Yes Miss."

And he left just as quickly before she could ask any questions.


	12. Chapter 12

**Let's pretend that I never posted during the weekend so I can still post on Monday. In truth; my friend had a boring weekend coming up so I was supposed to post multiple chapters of multiple things to keep her entertained. **

**I started a Mark of Athena story on Fanpop. I have a little over 40 replies even if it's just been 3-4 days that it's been out, so I'm like O_o but I'm not complaining if people enjoy it.**

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><p>XII<p>

_**December 11**__**th**_

Ian had a cold or something like that that made him talk weird on the phone, which meant that Nico was on his own at school, which wasn't a problem for him.

"Hey Goth Guts." Someone called behind him. He turned around with a locked jaw. It was the 3 captains of the 3 main teams at the school. Football, soccer and basketball. The three of them just happened to be best friends, and jerks. Or maybe Bryce radiated it so much that it had caught on to Philip Fray and Diego Rodriguez.

"Can I help you?" He said coldly.

"Ooh, touchy," Bryce said. "We were just wondering what kind of treat you were begging for back with Miss Padma. Poor little teacher's pet doesn't get fed enough already?"

A few people turned around. Usually Ian was around, therefore Nico was left alone. Minus the guy everyone liked, Nico was easy target. Apparently. He'd been treated like this all year by the trio of captains and he couldn't care less about them. Now he was just annoyed. He had other places to be. Really bad.

"I'm not a teacher's pet." He turned around and got caught by the shoulder.

"Denial is a normal part of it Nico, you must accept your condition." Bryce said, in fake kindness. Nico's chest tightened, his shoulders stiffened.

_Condition._

"You can learn to live with it, with the proper rehabilitation and treatment!" Philip added. Nico caught his breath and his jaw locked so tight, he might bite something off. His fists trembled with rage.

_Treatment._

"Yeah, it's not always terminal."

Nico snapped.

Diego was the smallest, and Nico had no problem turning around and shoving him back.

"STOP!" Nico said. It was like an overflowing glass. They'd put in a drop too much –actually way more than a drop- and Nico was going to explode and take it all out on them.

Philip and Bryce objected.

"You think you're tough, Goth Guts?" Bryce said, looming over Nico. He was so big Nico wondered if he wore his football equipment under his clothes to make himself bigger.

"I think you should leave me alone." Nico said, trying to get them away before he could throw a punch.

"Or what?" Bryce taunted. Nico threw a punch and nailed Bryce in the nose. He punched again in Bryce's gut and Philip and Diego were on him.

But Nico was a demigod.

And if you're a demigod, you better be pretty damn good at fighting if you're living in New York City.

Nico was.

He dodged tall Philip and weaseled past Diego. He backed off because he had enough and he knew he shouldn't even have punched Bryce in the first place.

_Just a mortal. Never take your anger out on them, no matter what._ Chiron said over and over to everyone, and Nico got that. Plus it was against school rules and stuff.

Bryce wasn't ready to let it go. He punched Nico in the mouth and Nico grabbed his fist, but he felt blood trickling from his lip as it throbbed. People were gathering. He even heard a 'Holly Smokes the Goth kid fights!'

A few girls shrieked, and a few guys cheered. A few of them were so scared by the outburst that they shut up.

"Stop!" Someone yelled in the crowd. Nico thought it was Eileen and that just ticked him off even more.

"You think you're so buff enough to just attack me, Goth Guts?" Bryce taunted. Diego tried to grab Nico from behind, but Nico grabbed Diego's wrists –wrists were power- and swept his legs out from under him.

"Don't make fun of disease and hospitals." Nico said with a locked jaw.

"Or what?"

Nico nailed Bryce in the shoulder.

"We've been through this." Nico said. "Don't make fun of it because you know nothing about it, and you don't know how bad it can be!"

"And you do? Common, take a joke di Angelo." Bryce said.

"IT'S NOT A JOKE!" Nico yelled. "It's something real serious and people die and not everyone always makes it! And as a matter of fact- I do know!"

He felt like he was about to cry. His vision got hazy and he got pushed from behind. He fell to the floor and someone jumped on his back, and had him in a headlock when he heard someone coming.

"Stop it! Stop it- stop it!" Nico recognised the voice as whoever had been on his back got off and he staggered back to his feet. Someone shorter than him grabbed his shoulder.

"You two- office. Fray, Rodriguez- follow."

Miss Gomez dragged them into the principal's office. Nico saw Eileen looking at him with round eyes and worry and he almost felt like yelling and running away from Miss Gomez.

She plopped them on red chairs outside the principal's office.

"I'll be right back. Don't move." She ordered. She came back with some ice for Nico's bleeding lip.

"And I'm sorry but Principal Figgings is going to have to hear about this. I don't know what that was about, or who started it- you do not fight." She was looking at Nico directly like 'what gives, since when do you fight?'

"Sarah." Nico muttered, feeling horrible. Worse than ever.

"Who the hell is Sarah?" Bryce said.

"My girlfriend you idiot!" Nico snapped.

"Nico." Miss Gomez said. Somehow that calmed him down. He met her eyes, and the door to Figgings' office opened.

A tall man with a bald head that shone like a new coin, and square glasses, the principal was. He sat them all in his office, Miss Gomez behind them. He wore an olive suit and a yellow shirt. He leaned back in his seat and listened to Bryce, Philip and Diego recall how Nico had savagely attacked Bryce.

"I see. Nico, what's your side to the story?" Nico stared at his knees.

"Nico?" Principal Figgings said.

"It doesn't matter, just give me suspension or whatever." He said. He was not going to share his sob story with Bryce, Philip and Diego. He wasn't going to give them more ammo for him.

"Nico," Miss Gomez said, "That's not how things work. Tell him, please." He looked up at Miss Gomez. She already knew pretty much how things worked with him, she'd spent time trying to get him above a D+ in math and she'd always been nice to him. Somehow he couldn't say no to her.

Then he looked up, saw Bryce, Philip and Diego and he could.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Nico, I'm going to have to tell them, because you're a good kid and you don't deserve the suspension that, so far, you're getting." She said. Nico took a deep breath.

"My girlfriend's in the hospital and she's terminally ill with brain and lung cancers." Nico said quickly, hoping that maybe Bryce's brain wouldn't register a thing. "I was alone so they started picking on me. I'd stayed behind to ask Miss Padma if we had to read this thing about emotions in front of everyone. I didn't want to read it in front of everyone, especially not people like Bryce."

"What do you mean people like me?" He bounced up to his own defence.

"Quiet, Bryce." Principal Figgings said. "Go on, Nico."

"So they just taunted me about a teacher's pet. I said I wasn't. And then they…" Nico's eyes got teary for real. It was just the frustration of the past days that had really tapped into him and was now overflowing. Over something this stupid, over _Bryce Carlton._ Who _cared _about Bryce Carlton?

Nico took a deep breath and ran his hands on his eyes.

"They said that I could live with a 'condition'. That treatment and rehabilitation was available. And that it… It wasn't always terminal." Nico buried his face through his hands for just a second before remembering that Figgings, Philip, Bryce, Diego and Miss Gomez were there. He straightened up and sniffed. He didn't even look at the three jocks.

"So you were provoked."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I shouldn't _have _punched Bryce in the first place-"

He could hear Sarah in the back of his head 'deny everything, deny everything!' and his insides seemed to swell up and block all passage of air.

"-but I was kind of sick of him being a jerk with everyone."

"What do you mean being a jerk with everyone?" Bryce protested, but Figgings holds up his hand in silence.

"What do you mean, Nico?"

So Nico had to explain that too.

"Bryce, this isn't the first time this comes up." Figgings said.

"He punched me!"

Someone knocked on the door and Miss Gomez opened.

It was Eileen with a secretary. Eileen wore tights under a black and white flowered dress. Black boots went up to just short of her knees and there was a black butterfly clip in her hair, which reminded Nico painfully of Thanatos. That didn't help his case right now. She hugged a binder for student council meetings (she represented the tenth grade) and her backpack was swung across her shoulder. She had smoky eye makeup, still and always lined with gold.

"Excuse me Principal Figgings, Miss Gomez- it's just that I saw everything happen." She said.

"Well, come in Eileen." Figgings said.

Bryce tried to be impressive and got up to offer her his chair but she gave him a look that no cheerleader had been known to ever give a football player at Goode. He sat back down pretty quickly.

She stood up as she explained how Nico had tried to back up but then the three of them had all piled up on him. How they'd been the ones to bother Nico and he'd told them to stop, how Bryce _was _a jerk with a bunch of others, especially the younger ones, etc.

Mr Figgings leaned back in his chair and pondered it. Eileen shot Nico a look and he turned his head. Then the door opened again, except the secretary stood there with –out of all people- Percy and a woman that Nico assumed was Ms. Carlton. Percy shot Nico a look like 'what the Hades?'

"Sir, you called for their parents?" The secretary asked.

"Yes, hello." He got up and shook hands.

"Hannah Carlton, Bryce's mother." The woman introduced herself, shaking Figgings' hand.

"Pleased to meet you," he turned to Percy. "Are you Nico's father?" He asked confused.

"Oh, heck no! I'm a cousin, umm, his legal tutor." Percy said. "My name's Percy Jackson."

"Paul's stepson, aren't you?" Figgings recognised.

"Yes," Percy said.

"Pleased to meet you, please take a seat," Figgings said. "Mr Fray, Mr Rodriguez; you can go, but expect some follow-up about detention sometime." They both scrammed and Percy sat down next to Nico. He eyed Nico, but he didn't look angry. Nico didn't really care anyways.

"Eileen, thank you for your time, you can go off to the council meeting now. Tell the responsible teacher you were with me."

"Okay Principal Figgings. Have a nice day, Nico." She said.

Figgings gave Percy and Ms. Carlton the brief on what had happened.

"Bryce!" Ms. Carlton snapped. "How could you? Bullying is bad enough already, but now you're making jokes about the most painful things in life? No- don't you 'I didn't know' me; it's not a joking subject, period. With anybody. Don't you think it's hard enough already for the people concerned? They don't need an idiot from school telling them something they didn't want to know!"

Nico closed his eyes and felt like sinking into his chair and melting with the plastic. Life as a chair must be so much easier… He should be rejoicing at this; Bryce was getting in serious Styx. But to Nico, that didn't change anything.

"Both of you will be punished for this. You threw a punch or threw one back- it doesn't matter, you threw it. Bryce, we've had kids coming in about bullying about you last year. You weren't suspended, but we did tell you that was the next step, didn't we?"

"Sir-"

"Didn't we?" Ms. Carlton said. "Bryce, common, he was clear on it."

"Mom-"

"No buts. You'll of course be suspended from the football team at the same time, for the rest of the year-"

"What? But Sir- I'm captain!"

"Not anymore. Coach Patterson will agree with me on this one. As for you, Nico, you might have been provoked _greatly, _but you still got in a fight. Detention every Friday until school ends. Is that clear with both of you?" Principal Figgings asked Percy and Ms. Carlton. She nodded vigorously, and Percy shrugged.

"Okay," Figgings said.

"Yes Principal Figgings. Thank you for your time." Ms. Carlton said.

"Yes, thanks." Percy said.

They all left and Percy pulled Nico aside, in a dessert corridor, away from Bryce and his mom.

"You okay?" He asked. Nico nodded.

"No idea what that was about. I just kind of…"

"Cracked." Percy guessed. Nico nodded.

"Look- where were you last night?" He asked.

"It's a long story."

"It doesn't matter," Percy said. "Do you want a ride to the hospital? Because I guess it's sort-of on my way back to NYU…"

"No," Nico said. "I can get there."

Percy put a hand on his shoulder and looked his cousin in the eye. It was the first time Nico saw Percy as really anything but his cousin who was letting him bunk with him, maybe a big brother. It was like Percy was a coin- you got the idiot demigod on the top and this side on the bottom. The side that gave him a home in New York, didn't keep him on a leash, ditched a university class to come to school when Nico needed a legal tutor around…

"Try not to hit people, Nico. I know it's frustrating and sickening and it drives you insane in general, but if you really need to blow off some steam, we'll find you a straw dummy next time." Percy said. Nico muttered something about hospital jokes again even if Percy had heard.

"They didn't know, Nico. They don't understand."

"I don't care. It takes three brain cells to know what happens in a hospital." Nico said.

"Yeah, but it takes a heart to know how it feels. That guy… I dealt with a bunch of them. He doesn't have it in him. You've just got to ignore them. It sounds cliché and everyone-says-that, but it's true Nico. You've got enough going on without having Bryce there too."

"I don't care about him," Nico said. Percy figured that he wasn't going to talk his cousin in and out of anything. Nico knew he wasn't an idiot, and that he knew that wherever he'd been last night was still bugging him. Nico couldn't agree with Percy more, but he wasn't going to say a thing.

They walked to the parking lot together and Nico walked down the sidewalk towards the subway station.

"Hey, Nico!" He heard. He turned around to see Eileen Donatello.

Oh man…

"Oh, hi Eileen." Nico said.

"Meeting was short tonight." She said. "Can I walk to the subway with you?"

"Umm, sure." He said. They walked a bit in an awkward silence.

"Umm, thanks for backing me up, earlier." He said.

"No problem. I hate Bryce. He picks out the girls on the cheerleading squad like he's playing eenie meeni miney mo, and they wait in line for him." Eileen said.

They walked some more in silence.

Nico had once heard that a silence was only awkward if you weren't comfortable with the people you were with. For Nico, there had never been an awkward silence until _right now. _With his best friend's little sister…

"Hey, umm, Nico, I was wondering if you'd want to catch a movie or something." She said.

And there it was…

"Umm, Eileen… You look nice and all, but I already have a girlfriend." Nico said.

"You do?" Eileen said, her eyebrows and face falling.

"Yeah, sorry." Nico said. He wasn't sure if he was being nice about it or not. He had zero girl experience except for Sarah, and Sarah wasn't exactly hard to read or be around.

"Oh." Eileen said. "I didn't know, cool, what's her name? Does she come here?"

Eileen was obviously not used to having this answered back to her. She knew nearly everybody in the school, plus a lot of guys would kill for a date with Eileen- 10th grade representative in student council, cheerleader, and about 12 other things. On top of that; pretty. He doubted a lot of guys had ever said no to her like he just had, or had so little interest in her. It sort of made Nico feel bad, but at the same time he had nothing to feel bad about and knew it. He didn't like Eileen, and it wasn't fair to either her, him or Sarah to lead her on.

"Sarah. Barclay. And no. She doesn't go here." Nico said.

"Oh, which school?" Sarah asked.

"Oh- I forgot my science book at school!" Nico said suddenly. "I've got a test tomorrow, I better go get it. I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yeah," Eileen said, a fake smile hanging on her lips.

Nico turned around, and walked away fast. But he didn't go get his science book (did he even have science this semester?); he just shadow traveled from a bush.


	13. Chapter 13

**I want this story to finish this week, so game plan is: 1 today, 1 tomorow, 1 this weekend. Or something like that... Whatever I do; there are 3 chapters left. This ends at XV, one way or another. Just wanted to say that- and today is the 2 week anniversary of The Son of Neptune! That's 50 weeks until the 1 year mark is over and we'll have the next book. Is that going to be a long year, or what?**

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><p>XIII<p>

_**December 11**__**th**_

Sarah looked half-asleep when Nico came in after explaining to Squirt what was up with his lip without going into detail.

She was wearing a thick yellow hoody and she'd tied a black bandana with Chinese characters on it around her head, but buried herself under a blanket.

"Hey Sarah," Nico said coming in. He smiled at her, but she didn't even try to return it. She just looked at him with pained eyes.

"I can't believe you did it." She said, sitting up.

"Did what?" Nico asked.

"Nico, I'm a demigod. I _get _dreams about important stuff, and I _can _be visited by ghosts."

"What do you mean you-?"

Nico shut up when she gave him the look. Oh…

"You went to the Underworld and you tried to gamble. You went to see the freaking _fates!_ Who the heck has ever done that? Nobody! Nobody does that!" Sarah winced and put a hand to her head.

"Sar-"

"I'm fine Nico."

"Don't say that because you're not and I know it. That's why I went to the Underworld, I won't deny it. Because you're not okay and you don't deserve it."

Nico probably shouldn't have said that but he'd been toyed and messed with enough. He was edgy.

"Nico- Clay is 7 years old; Tommy is 6 and a half. They don't deserve it, Maddy didn't deserve it, or Fredericka, or Troy- nobody else deserves this. Nobody deserves to lose their body like this, but people do- every day, everywhere. You can't save everyone Nico; not everyone _can _be. Nico, not everyone makes it and it just so happens that I'm one of them."

Nico closed his eyes took a deep breath to try and calm himself down.

"Sarah-"

"Nico, I've known for two months now. I knew there was something really wrong with me and that it was some-" Sarah went into a coughing fit and her hand immediately made a grab for Nico's, who squeezed her fingers.

"See?" She said. "I've been dying for a long time. And I'm okay with that. I know what's happening. I know what's coming. But do you know why I wouldn't be okay with dying right now? Tonight?" She said.

Nico didn't say anything; he just tried to keep listening. He didn't want to hear Sarah say it, but Sarah obviously _wanted _to say it.

"No." Nico said, his insides felt like they were being squeezed and strangled by a snake.

"Because of you Nico," Sarah said. "I worry about you every day. You've been so alone for so long. It hasn't done you any good Nico, its hurt you. And you're the kind of person that likes to be alone, but sometimes even you need somebody there. And I'm not going to be there, and I don't know who is. But you act like nobody will and I worry about that. I don't want you to go back to when we were 12 and everyone thought 'what the Hades made this kid so angsty?' I don't want you to be sad."

Nico met her eyes, and he realised that his were tearing up. Sarah looked about to cry too.

"You've always been there for me. You've held my hand forever. When hell was coming down on me, whether it was that first day of chemo or the other day with my mom, you made it okay. You made having to sit down and watch soap operas and the damn holiday specials over and over okay- just by walking in you do that. They say that angels help humans, and dear gods your name is literal. So who's going to make things okay for you?"

"Sarah… I don't need an angel, I have you."

"You'll have had me, Hell on wheels. Then what? You're not thinking about the 'then what'. You're trying to make now forever. And it's going to burn you Nico. You're the kind of person whose hands are already charred, you don't need that."

Nico felt like he was actually crying a bit.

"I can't give up on you Sarah," Nico said. "I love you too much to just let you go."

"Love isn't forever, Nico. Love is holding on for as long as you can, and letting go when you have to." Sarah said.

He thought back to all the dreams he'd had and the Underworld gods had said, and the fates and Bianca…

_Some die young with their names clear. Others wait old to disappear. _

_I wish I could help you, but I am not the master of death. I am just a god. _

And then his dream…

"_Now talk me out of it."_

"_Out of what, sire?"_

"_Out of bringing Maria back from the dead, of killing everyone on the children of Poseidon and Zeus' side in Europe, of sending plagues to countries." _

Hades was a god. He was used to snapping his fingers and having things happening, of immortality, and of power. If he could let go, why couldn't Nico?

_It makes your father one of the bravest gods that the bards have ever sung of, that makes him._

Nico realised just how much it must've taken his father to walk away from that destroyed hotel, to send Nico and Bianca to the Lotus Hotel and Casino and for going to fight in the Titan war. For the first time, Nico thought that bravery might not be forming armies, defying gods, saving the princess from the sea monsters, and swooping down with the sword. Maybe bravery was just letting things happen.

"I'm going to miss you Sarah." Nico said softly. For the first time.

"And I'm going to miss you too. But you know, I'm sure there's duct tape in the Underworld, so I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me. Ever. And if there's no duct tape in the Underworld, then there's at least salsa." Sarah smiled.

A sick Sarah smile, but Nico had to smile back. Duct tape and salsa. Oh boy, he remembered that prank… Sarah had filled water balloons with salsa and duct taped them on the roof above the Big House's front door. Nobody knew when they'd drop, and nobody wanted to find out either. But you couldn't remove them because if you touched them- SPLAT!

"Don't close yourself on everyone. Not Ian, not Percy, not Alena, Mitchell, Ty, Lacy, or anybody else. Promise me that you're going to be okay. Promise me that you won't live in the past and try to bring me back or anything like it. Promise me you'll go for it."

"What's 'it'?"

"Everything and anything." Sarah said.

"I promise." Nico said. Sarah leaned up, winced on the way and buried her face in his shoulder. He did the same, and he was pretty sure that they were both crying.

But in a weird, weird way- Nico felt more okay than he had in a while.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hola, heads to Nala Jackson for giving me a thumbs up on this one. This thing is over on Wednesday and remember: my stories aren't over until I write 'The End', so don't stop coming 'till you've heard it! Thanks for reading and I'm killing two birds with one stone in terms of what you guys wanted to see here :) So...**

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><p>XIV<p>

_**December 11-12**__**th**_

Nico was up in the middle of the night, with a notebook opened on his knees and a flashlight stuck between his shoulder and tilted head. How did people in movies do this? He was getting a neck cramp.

He scribbled across the page and erased and scribbled again and over and over.

Finally he read over it and deemed it fit enough, so he closed the binder, rubbed his neck and passed out.

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><p>"Alright my little darlings, who wants to go next?" Miss Padma said looking up with a crocodile grin.<p>

As usual, nobody wanted to. Nico didn't care how much he'd invested in those- he wasn't going up there willingly.

"Wimps!" She yelled out. "You're all going to have to go anyways!" Miss Padma said. She mused, "It's gonna happen…"

Some guy coughed.

"Good Lord Stewart Brown- what a bunch of wimps! Really people? Mr di Angelo then."

Nico got up, gathered his papers and planted himself in front of the Smartboard screen, wondering who Stewart Brown was. He looked at Miss Padma who was writing his name on a test sheet (10 $ she'd write 'Nicholas' or 'Niccolò' on the grid again. For crying out loud people; Nico; it wasn't short for anything whether the long form sounded Italian or not).

She looked up at him and smiled her crocodile smile.

"You may begin Nico."

"My name is Nico di Angelo, and these are my paragraphs for the assignment on short texts and emotions and stuff."

Nico rocked at oral presentations, as you could see.

"Okay, well, umm, I guess I'll go by alphabetical order like everyone else…"

_Anger- by Nico di Angelo_

_I've been angry a lot in my life. I've been / through some pretty insane things since I was about 10 and they've made my emotions spin like a house in a tornado. I've been angry at myself, at people around me, at people that used to be around me, people that aren't there anymore, et cetera. But what takes the cake is when somebody lets you down. I used to fully depend on my half-sister, Bianca. _

_Both of us were alone unless we were together. And then one day she got the golden opportunity that people always talk about, to change their lives and live differently and all that. And she took it. She left to do her own thing in life. I should have been okay with that, but I wasn't. The only solid thing I had was Bianca and then she left. She'd made a promise to me once that she'd always take care of me, and then she'd turned her back and let other people worry about me. I felt betrayed and toyed with. I didn't want other people around, I wanted Bianca because everything else changed with the seasons, but Bianca didn't. She decided to change her life- as if I wasn't good enough for her life. Of course, now I don't see things like that, but I was 10 years old at the time. In my head, I needed something permanent and she'd just decided that I could deal on my own. The worse was that Bianca died in an accident not long after. Not long after at all. Then there was really no chance I'd be back on my feet again, same old Nico with something solid. That made me mad. I'd been left, and now I had absolutely no chance to catch up._

_Happiness- by Nico di Angelo_

_I did get back to my feet eventually. Two years or so after Bianca passed away, I started at least acting social. That's when I met Sarah Barclay. She can make you laugh when you're about to cry. Her constant state of happy rubs onto you whether you like it or not, even when every cloud in the sky is right above your head. We were best friends for about two years before we left 'friends' behind. You don't need to know the whole story, but holding Sarah's hand made the world feel sweeter and lighter than I was used to. I could tell you about the biggest pranks that Sarah pulled and that I was dragged into, I could tell you about every time Sarah and I were let loose around the city, or about the most magic moments, the sweetest kisses and the real moments that I said 'light at the end of the tunnel- check'. But really, I think I was just happy having Sarah by my side, thinking things were moving on, and finally finding something good. That's happiness; not a moment, a mile._

_Sorrow- by Nico di Angelo_

_A lot of the times when I've been angry I've been sad as well. It doesn't matter why or what caused it, but I have. I've been through every emotion from love, to jealousy, to gut-wrenching sadness. The funny thing is- the best in me came out when I found the best I could, Sarah. And the worst in me came out because of the same reason. _

_Sarah and I were 15 when she started having headaches, balance problems and she was always tired. I guess you can figure out what it led to seeing as I wrote it down here, but Sarah was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She was sent to New York for treatment, and my cousin Percy let me stay with him so I could stay close to her. The shock of thinking that something was wrong with Sarah, that something was hurting her, that she was in so much danger because of her own body and that I couldn't do anything about it… This could fit into 'anger' as well, but it really shocked me how such a good person could be plagued with something like that. I think an even worse blow for me was in late November. See; we've always known that Sarah's tumour was malignant- which meant that the cancer cells could spread anywhere. But not that long ago we found out that it had spread to her lungs, but that it was too late, and that Sarah would have been too weak to survive surgery anyways. _

_So the sorrow in my life was dealing with the fact that my girlfriend, the first person in a long time to make me feel okay, was terminally ill. _

_That one day she'll slip away, and the world will keep spinning, school will stay in session, and the tide's going to keep coming in and out. That nothing will change except for me, because the day that that happens, everything will change for me. Heck, I wonder if Sarah will even live until Christmas. Her health slips every day and everyone knows it. I love her so, so much. She loves me too. And because I love her that much I'm going to have to stay with her and hold her hand when it happens. I'm going to have to be okay after she slips away because that's what she wants for me, and that might be the worst part- Sarah's asking me not to be sad. I'm going to have to pretend that I'm brave and put up with everything and everyone else –including the idiots- at the same time. I'm going to have to pretend that it really won't be the worst thing of my life. I'm pretending right now that I don't know that it's coming like a meteorite. And I don't know how I'll do it, but for Sarah, I will._

Nico closed his eyes. Again, with the misty eyes.

"Yeah, well, that's it." He said. He looked at the expressions of the people in his class and Miss Padma's round and sorry eyes. He stood there for an awkward second, and a slow round of applause started. Nico scurried to his seat behind Ian's as fast as he could. Hands shot up.

"Hun?" Nico asked.

"I have a question." Andrea Roberts, the girl who raises her hand for everything, said.

"Umm… Okay." Nico said.

"Do they know how long she has to live?" Andrea asked. Thing with Andrea: she doesn't have a 'conscience' which made her unapt at recognising what was 'awkward' and 'don't ask that'.

Nico balanced from foot to foot.

"They said two months when I asked once, but usually they always overestimate things, and Sarah's doing worse than ever so…"

"Is that why you punched Bryce Carlton yesterday?" Nico's face darkened.

"Yes," Nico said. He tried to go back to his seat but he kept getting questions. Questions he didn't want to answer. What is she like, what kind of cancer, how does chemo work, does she feel like she's dying, for how long has she been dying, how did they not find the cancer in her lungs before, can't they do anything...

He didn't have to look at Ian for help.

Ian whistled for attention- a loud whistle that would've gotten him all the dogs in New York at his feet.

"Yo, give the guy a break." Ian said. "He marked it under 'sorrow'. I may not be a genius-"

"You're not," Derrick called.

"-But he probably doesn't want to talk about it."

The class quieted down, listening to Ian better than they listened to teachers. Miss Padma stared down at Nico like she was trying to find something to say. Nico shot her his deluxe 'talk to me and you'll regret it' look- which he usually didn't give teachers but Miss Padma had it coming.

Strangely; he felt better. Like the metaphorical anvil was weighed off the metaphorical heart-not-broken-to-pieces.

As Miss Padma was trying to corner another student into presenting, the bell rang. Everyone was out so fast that she didn't have time to nail anyone- and that included Nico.

He got a lot of 'sorry' and 'aww, that's so sad!' in the hallway and people seemed to pay attention to him. They'd never done that before with him. They'd always just accepted and dismissed the little Goth kid that, for some reason, Ian Donatello hung out with.

"I feel like they're all talking about me." Nico said, as he and Ian walked across the cafeteria, so they could get outside. It might be winter but Ian was in a mood for onion rings, and gods forbid he got none.

"That's because they are all talking about you. That was deep Nico."

In the hallway they passed an empty class where students were watching a slideshow about rebuilding houses in a country that had just gotten an earthquake- a trip called 'Shelter in Syria'. Nico spotted Eileen as one of the students standing at the front and briefing, trying to convince the others to sign up.

"About Eileen; she was upset yesterday. But, you know, mom came home from work and they locked themselves up in her room and did whatever it is girls do when stuff like this happens, and she's all good now. I think she knows about Sarah. Anyways, you don't have to worry about her. She's not upset or mad at you, and you're still invited to her Sweet 16 because I need moral support and Derrick doesn't count. He's another reason I need moral support. Anyways, bring Sarah if she's okay with it. You don't even have to stick around for long."

"Thanks," Nico said. "And speaking of meeting Sarah- she still wants to meet you."

"Anytime. As you know I try to keep my social calendar at a reasonable level."

"You mean you won't go out with every girl in school or hang out with the freakishly popular?"

"Snap- is that Brittney Vanmatre and Cecil Nolf going in line at the chip wagon? No- they take forever to order! Run Nico!" Ian said before sprinting off to catch up. Nico rolled his eyes, but followed Ian. Maybe he _did_ want onion rings too.

* * *

><p>Nico led Ian through the hall.<p>

"Hey Tall Dude!"

Nico saw Clay trudging to the playroom, pulling an IV unit behind him, followed by Big Bertha.

"Hi Clay," Nico said.

"Who was that?" Ian asked.

"A kid called Clay. Don't ask; he thinks I'm the best thing on earth because I'm tall."

"Poor kid- dementia is it?"

"Oh, shut up." Nico said. He knocked on Sarah's door.

She had bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept, and she probably would be right now except for the fact that Alena was pointing out the parts of an aunt in a book called 'Lifestyles and Lives of Insects and Arachnids' for her. (Alena was weird that way. Contrarily to the rest of her siblings, she took the fact that all these spiders were coming after her as a chance to dissect something still alive with feeling no guilt whatsoever).

"Hey, look what the chimaera dragged in." Nico said. Alena spun around.

"Shut it di Angelo. And look at that- you're interacting with live things again!" She said spotting Ian.

"What, is he known to talk to rocks?" Ian said. His hands were stuffed deep in his pockets because the cold had frostbitten his fingers in the two seconds he'd had them unprotected when they stepped out of school.

"Not exactly," Sarah said.

"Ian, this is Sarah Barclay, Sarah, this guy's Ian Donatello."

"Hey," Ian said.

"Yeh." Sarah said.

"What?" Nico asked thinking 'oh great, multiple personality disorder here we come'.

"It's hey backwards. Y-E-H, H-E-Y. I was really bored before Alena showed up, and nobody else was working on the PCP and… Well, I stole some lady's mirror in the hall." Sarah pouted.

"Did you give it back?" Nico asked.

"No." Sarah said like the idea had never possibly come to her.

"She's been saying random words backwards forever." Alena said. "I had no idea she was this good at spelling."

"It's genius! I insult people, then they have to figure out what a Krej or a Toidi is, and by that time I am long gone! Just think, I can make all the Squirt+ Crystal jokes I want with this. It's revolutionary!"

"I like that;" Ian said, nodding in approval. "I can use it on my brother. Good thinking, Haras."

"No I'm Haras Yalcrab." Sarah corrected Ian, dead serious.

"Oh, sorry." He said. "So who's your dneirf?"

"Alena Hartney," Alena said, getting up and holding out her hand. She was wearing a long camp shirt, jean shorts and white pumas- which was something you'd only be wearing if you were in nice, never cold, Camp Half-Blood. She was looking very sweet and innocent today, and Nico saw Ian's resistant go down the drain. Oh boy…

"I'm just a friend from their old school."

"Oh Nico, revolutionary news from that place- Alena finally found out that Julio was an-"

"Sarah, just because we broke up doesn't mean that I appreciate the recent labels you've put on his head." Alena frowned. Sarah coughed 'it's true'.

"Oh thank god, can't stand that kid." Nico said.

"You should have _told _me!" Alena said. "I would've _done something _about it if I'd have known he was… Him!"

"What was the fight about?" Nico asked.

"Oh, he bullied Brendon Giroux into pushing for being counsellor instead of the role going rightfully to me, because he thought it would 'ruin our relationship' or something like that- it caused everything else to go to chaos, Annabeth had to stay over a night to fix things and Minnie and London haven't talked to him since- it's upset the cabin's whole order."

"Something bull." Sarah summed.

"Counsellors?" Ian asked.

"It's a long story, Ian. Maybe we'll tell you someday. Our old school worked like a summer camp except more awesome but with the learning bit that we could all pass on."

"Education is key! If you don't even bother with academics, how will you-"

"Except for this special brand of people called 'Alenas'." Nico said. Alena hit his arm and Sarah laughed.

"You're fighting like an old married couple!" She said. "Back off, Al, he's mine. You can take Ian."

Alena and Ian both blushed but their eyes met.

"It's my sister's sweet 16 on Sunday. I need someone to dance with and there's going to be free cake." Ian offered with a smile. Alena looked him over with steel grey eyes, suddenly harsh, but Ian didn't even flinch.

"Sounds okay to me, then." Alena said, judging Ian worthy once he passed the glare test.

"Ooh, can I come? Spiking punch is fun!" Sarah said.

"Actually, yes my mom wants Nico to come for the first and I'm sure he has nobody else to bring, but no for the second. I'm the one who gets to spike the punch."

"Oh common, why?"

"Because it's my sister. I am forced to live with her; I get to spike the punch."

"Sounds fair," Sarah shrugged. "And I was kidding- really?"

"Well, Nico's coming so I guess you can come too." Sarah smiled.

"Haven't been to a party in a long time." She said, "This should be fun."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! I was listening to the song 'What Sarah Said' by Death cab for Cutie when I wrote this a month or so back, and I was listening to it again while revising- twice (it was a careful and slow revision). Thanks to Sarah25 on Fanpop who suggested this song to me when I was at The Son of Neptune's epilogue. Sarah Barclay was actually named after What Sarah Said. Give it a listen after reading, kay? **

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><p>XV<p>

_**December 19**__**th**_

Nico walked into Sarah's room after a long and boring detention when he nearly had a heart attack.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked looking at the display of familiar faces.

"Ooh- ooh- I know this one!" Sarah said. "Kay, so-"

"Sarah, he wasn't literal." Alena told her.

"I actually kind of was." Nico said. It looked like everyone that had a link to Sarah from camp had shown up. Minus a few children of Hermes because big groups of them at a public place at the same time was a bad idea. Chiron was even there, in a corner observing things.

"We're coming to make sure our baby sister here is okay. Isn't that right Sawah-cakes?" Travis said pinching her cheeks like she was a toddler. Sarah stuck out her tongue.

"She liked my hand!" Travis said.

"You deserved it." Connor said. Travis shoved Connor.

Doctor Squirt walked in, reading his clipboard. He looked up and jumped back like Nico had.

"Okay… I'm guessing you're all part of Sarah's hugely extended family." He said.

"It's complicated. Want to hear it anyways?" Sarah offered.

"I haven't brushed up on my mythology in quite some time- that's fine, thank you." He said, brow furrowed.

"Okay," Sarah started in a helpful tone that told everyone that this wasn't going to be helpful, completely ignoring him. "So Connor and Travis are my half-brothers, but they're full brothers, and Chris and Elea are siblings too. Katie is my dad's cousin and she's cousins with Nico and Percy too, which makes Percy and Nico cousins at the same time. Anyways Katie is here because she's Travis' girlfriend, but she'll deny it until they get married and have obnoxious little children that Nico will be stuck babysitting- don't object, it's true. Annabeth is Percy's fiancé and Alena's sister and Alena is my dad's sister's daughter, therefore so is Annabeth, and I guess that's a cousin to me- but Alena is also my best friend. Clarisse is my dad's niece again, except her dad is different from Annabeth and Alena's mom in the sense that he apparently smells weird; and she's here because she's my bro's –meaning Chris'- girlfriend and maybe deep down she does like me…"

"Not a chance, punk."

"Whatever Clarisse, you love me. Leo is another uncle's kid and he thinks I'm a genius because I came up with salsa-water-balloons, so he's here. Nyssa is his sister and she's a friend at camp and I annoy her when she works too hard, so she likes my stress relief. Chiron is a sort of uncle because I think that my grandfather as well as Percy and Nico's dads are half-brothers to him, but he's more importantly been my trainer since I am midget. Finally Lacy and Mitchell are friends and they're half-siblings and really far up in the family, Ty and Shay are cousins and children of the god of parties so they enjoy my presence at their bashes, and nobody knows why Joel's here."

"Joel?" Nico asked.

"Hi." A guy in the corner that Nico hadn't met before said.

"Have I confused you yet?" Sarah asked Squirt hopefully.

"You had me at the second sentence." Dr Squirt said.

"Do you want me to make a picture?" Chris said. "'Cause I'm a genius with wax crayons."

"No thank you; I don't trust anybody related to Sarah with wax crayons."

"I can be trusted with wax crayons." Alena and Annabeth both said. Dr Squirt looked like 'oh boy' when he turned to Chiron.

"I take it you're in charge of… Everyone?" he asked.

"In theory," Chiron said.

"Okay, bless you. I assume you can watch your..? Do you guys call yourself a family?"

"No." Everyone said at once.

"They're the idiots I'm forced to live with." Connor said pointing to Elea, Sarah, Chris and Travis. "Believe me, choice granted…"

"I don't like being related to you either, Stoll." Clarisse said smacking the back of his head.

"I'd mind if split ends were a family thing, but other than that, I'm okay with calling them whatever." Lacy piped up.

"Technically we _are _related."

"Shut up Ty!" A few people screamed out.

"Don't worry, it creeps everyone out." Someone said. Everyone looked at the door thinking 'goodie one more person!' but then there was another heart attack, except collective this time.

A man with curly black hair was standing in the doorframe, dressed casually. His eyes glittered blue and he shared the facial features of 5 people in the room; upturned eyebrows, sly and mischievous smiles and elfish features.

A few jaws dropped.

"Oh gods- am I supposed to bow or something?" Travis asked Connor. Doctor Squirt looked over at Sarah and mouthed 'am I missing something?'

"Yeah you are Doc, that's my dad." Sarah said. "Hi Dad."

"Hi Sarah. And Connor, Travis, Chris, Elea too. As well as everyone else. Is it even legal to have so many of you here? I don't think so- good initiative!"

Doctor Squirt squinted.

"When you say 'dad' you mean-"

"Hermes," the god announced cheerfully holding out his hand, "Pleased to meet you."

"Umm…" Doctor Squirt said shaking the god's hand. Nico felt sorry for him. When Sarah had checked into the ward and Squirt was her main doctor they'd broken it to him very gently that everything he knew about the world was wrong and that he'd wasted his life studying and that Greek gods were loose around the United States of America; messing things up, creating social networking and having children with mortals (go Sarah!)

Nico wasn't sure how much he'd believed it even with everyone from the reasonable-at-first-glance Annabeth to adult-therefore-inspiring Chiron telling him, but here came his first Greek god!

"Thank you for taking care of Sarah, fates know she can be a handful." He said.

"Love you too," Sarah muttered.

"Shut up mini, it's true." Chris said.

_You've got no idea, _Nico thought.

"It's my job, no matter who it is." Squirt said. "Okay, well, call if you need anything. I'll leave you all alone and go find Crystal and possibly some Tylenol."

He turned his back and Sarah wolf-whistled. He turned back around as Sarah's sly look whipped off her face and Chris, Travis, Connor and Hermes both sniggered- and whipped their faces neutral just as fast.

"Sarah Barclay- always, won't you?" He said.

"You said it yourself Doc," Sarah said. "_Sarah Barclay_, I come with good looks, many people, and sarcasm."

Squirt smiled softly and left the room.

"So Dad- what brings you here?" Sarah said casually, like she'd just run into someone at the mall.

"You, of course. I know, I'm not technically supposed to be here, but Zeus won't know, so it's really okay. And it would be even if he did know." Hermes said. His voice lowered so only Sarah and the closest person, Nico, could hear.

"I realise it hasn't been a good two years, and that there really should have been more people to help you. And I'm sorry about that. But it worked out okay, didn't it?"

Nico would have objected a week ago, but now he wouldn't have. Sarah just nodded.

"Anyways, I just thought I'd drop by, and tell you how incredibly brave you've been. How creative your pranks and projects have been, how bright your smile was even on your worst days; just because it was there and how well you've dealt with everything." Hermes said, "I'm proud of you kid."

Sarah smiled, but her smile was tired.

"Thanks Dad." Sarah said. There was a second before Hermes stepped forth and hugged Sarah tightly. She hugged him back too, and her eyes were closed like she was taking in this moment. He got back straight quickly.

"Well, I'm sorry I just dropped in like this. Supposedly Dionysus is in Nepal right now so I _really _have to fly. Have a good evening all of you," he turned towards his other children.

"Be good to your brother, be good to your brother, and you can do whatever you want to the pair of them." He told Connor, Travis and Chris in respective order. Chris mouthed 'yes' and brought his fist towards him.

Hermes walked out of the room just as casually as he walked in.

"That went better than last time a parent came." Sarah mused to herself. "Anyways, who's ordering pizza?"

Nico didn't even know you could do that, but pizza soon came and together, the Stolls, Chris, Elea (who was master), and Sarah managed to convince the guy that delivery was more than 30 minutes so it was free (which Nico wasn't betting on).

Sarah even managed to have a bite of Nico's slice and kept it down. Her breathing was heavy and wheezy, she coughed every now and then and her eyes looked heavy; but in the end she looked okay for the evening. She laughed and joked and she managed to fit in Clay, Tommy, Fredericka and Troy in the room. Or maybe they just came because the place smelled amazing… Clay demanded pizza, but Big Bertha refused. She looked sceptical about pizza in the room anyways. Travis made everyone's night by yelling out "Oh _you're _Big Bertha!"

At some point she got cold and asked for a jacket- without checking someone threw her Nico's jacket that he still hadn't brought back. She leaned back on pillows, and tried to zip it up to her chin. Her fingers couldn't seem to close around the zipper, always just besides it or under or whatever. Nico helped her get it and she buried herself between her blankets.

She laughed at Connor and Travis as they argued with the cons of living with each other, she had a debate with Elia on what dish soap was better for project Xb (Nico didn't want to know), of Chris who was talking about how his gambling was making him rich (Sarah said that in two years he'd be back to being an annoying pile of noting), and teased Percy and Annabeth with chapel jokes. Ty introduced her to Nyan cat on his iPod, and Sarah tried long and hard to argue to keep the iPod. Sadly Ty wasn't in the mood for trading Chris for the iPod.

Visiting hours quickly ended, and the nurse that came to call them off nearly had a heart attack when he saw the wide display of people there. Connor coaxed him to silence with Meat Lover's.

They each said goodbye to Sarah on their way out and they each hugged her. Elia hugged her twice.

"I love you," she told her siblings. "Even if Travis sucks." She said.

"Shoe graffiti forever!" Connor said, grinning.

Alena was nearly crying, and Annabeth held her by the shoulder as they exited.

Soon, it was just Nico and Sarah.

"Why did everyone come?" Nico asked. "You've decided to try making Thursday the new Friday again?"

Sarah looked at him and Nico saw how deep her eyes were, how heavy her eyelids seemed to be, and how pale and thin her face really was.

"Turn your children of Hades senses back on." She requested to him.

"Do you just want to see me blink and hit myself on the head?" He asked.

"Partially," Sarah admitted. "Please?" He did, and when he looked back he saw auras around people. To him, they were always gold. But right now Sarah's was different then say, Squirt or Percy's would look to him; it was thin, dim and the dull color of dark honey butter.

He got it.

He felt like he was losing some pretty important parts inside, but he got it.

He held her hand and Sarah let her head sink deeper in the pillow. She was bundled up in his bulky black skull hoody, and sitting up, wearing a scarf with Pop Art owls around her head. It was quiet, and nor Sarah nor Nico wanted to break it.

"I feel like hell." Sarah said finally, her voice croaky. Nico rubbed his thumb on her palm.

"You're going to be okay," Nico said even if he knew she wouldn't.

"Sticking to the script, are we?" Sarah mumbled. But she turned to look at him.

"Love isn't forever, Corpse breath. Love is holding on for as long as you can, and letting go when you have to." She repeated something she'd said a week or so ago.

"I'll let go only when you do," Nico promised, squeezing her hand.

"I love you, Hell on wheels." Sarah said.

"I love you too, Sarah." Nico said. He leaned in for one more soft kiss that lingered. "I love you. So much. For so long."


	16. Epilogue

**Oh boy- last chapter eeep!**

**I'm plesently surprised that _certain reader friends _didn't jump me after the last chapter, but you know, so far so good! **

**Thank you for reading to the end, whether as I write or in the future, thank you, thank you, thank you, if it could rain cookies on the Internet I'd make it happen for you (and for blackmailing Rick Riordan into writing faster- *evil laugh*). So please, sit back, enjoy, and leave you ('specially about the last line, I'm errr... about it)**

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><p><em><strong>Epilogue<strong>_

Nico took the pictures, one by one off the wall of his bedroom. Some of them made him smile, but it was always a sad smile, which was all that Nico seemed to have managed in the last little while. But it was still better than no smile.

He was careful not to rip the picture while detaching them, and more delicate than demigod custom was for taking the tape off the back. Some of them were worth more than anything else to Nico, no matter who was blinking.

One of them showed he and Sarah sitting at a table, near the dance floor of Eileen's Sweet 16. Sarah's dress was cream coloured with leafy roses all over, a grey trim at the bottom and collar and a stretch of the same fabric around her waist. It would've been really girly and un-Sarah like if she hadn't had a spot of… Nico still didn't know what it was- at random places, and a pair of neon green converse sneakers on her feet. In her defence, they were her 'good shoes' since they had never been spit, drawn, paint, bled or otherwise vandalised on. Nico was wearing a sort-of casual thing, which was the best he'd managed that day (or ever), and they were sitting close to each other, cheeks touching.

Another one with an added Alena –who was wearing a gray banded tunic dress or whatever Eileen had said it was (the fashion terms had all fused together in Nico's head creating one big word essential to all fashion dopes called; whateveritis), and Ian was looking about as happy to be dressed up as Nico was. But he looked happy to have Alena right next to him.

Another one was everyone who'd been to see Sarah, the day before she died. Pizza boxes were open and people were either not looking at Crystal as she took the picture, had their mouths open, or were in the middle of eating pizza and looked up in surprise like 'oh'. She was bundled up in Nico's hoody- the same one she'd been burried in.

Some of them were older; before Sarah got sick, when they were still part of a group at Camp Half-Blood. Their friends from there- Lacy, Nyssa, Shay, Ty, Alena… In the pictures there that included Sarah; the crinkled smile was all out, her hair was still there and flickable, and her blue eyes shinned like the stars.

Nico was actually flicking Sarah's hair in one. Someone had started a yearbook for half-bloods, to make every year count more or something. The 3 photographers that tried had sent back that picture after they'd soon realised that Nico and Sarah together was a hard as hell picture to take.

There was even a rules sheet of paper with an epic drawing of a rabid cat and a tarantula and a bunch of signatures. Ian told Nico that on Friday the 20th, when he hadn't shown up, Ian had been swarmed with questions and someone had decided to make a 'sorry for your loss' card. Things had gone do much better for Nico when he'd gone back to school; he'd decided to keep it.

Some of them weren't even of Sarah at all. Of Ian, Alena, of Ian _and _Alena, Camp, one of Percy and Annabeth's wedding (with the awesome advantage of having a guy diving into the ocean in the background; nobody knew but it was cool), he and his two cousins in Central Park when they'd gone out to 'bond' (read: beat each other up like they only did to each other), but Nico still treated them like gold in paper form.

"You ready?" Someone behind him asked. He turned around to see Percy.

"Yeah," Nico said. He slipped the pictures in an envelope Annabeth had given him and picked up his bag.

"You know, there's no reason to leave if you don't want to." Percy said, "We're flexible to whatever, Nico."

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," Nico said. "You know I don't care."

Percy and Annabeth had gotten married, it had been awesome, Nico had had more fun than he'd thought was possible for a wedding even if he'd thought a lot about how Sarah would have loved it.

Now, both of them were moving into another apartment that was closer to where they had to be, a bit bigger than Percy's –where they'd been staying- and they'd offered a room to Nico. Percy was still thinking that maybe Nico didn't want to move or whatever, but Nico wasn't picky. He just wanted to stay around New York, finish high school, help the kids at the hospital finish the PCP, make fun of Ian and Alena, etc. Maybe Nico wanted to be okay after Sarah died. Maybe Nico wanted to live like a normal kid. Or at least try.

"Yeah, I know, but Thalia told me you'll be messed up if you keep going everywhere on your own, and I don't want to have her making a flash mob with my mom and a bunch of eternal maidens." Percy said.

"Gee thanks." Nico said. He looked at his wall, whipped clean of all the pictures and memories that had been displayed like a gallery of Nico's best. He was very proud of himself, he hadn't even ripped off paint or whatever tape did to walls and that Annabeth said would make the apartment buyers annoyed.

"It does feel weird to leave, but I guess change is good." Nico said.

"It is," Percy said. "You've changed a lot Nico- twice now for the better. Keep going and maybe one day you'll be half decent." Nico elbowed Percy and he laughed and shoved Nico back. Nico pushed and Percy got his cousin in a headlock, Nico swept Percy's legs out and they fell, but Percy hooked Nico's legs and pinned him, Nico flipped onto his stomach to stay solid...

"Are you two fighting again?" Annabeth called.

"No!" They both yelled.

"Well then common, we're going to be late!"

"Late? Late to what?" Nico asked. "You're moving, is there a deadline before the new place goes to some hobo or something?"

"You'll see," Percy said, getting back up.

"You sound like an adult. Percy Jackson- maturing?" Nico gasped taking Percy's hand to get up. Percy made a face.

"I am technically over 18, and married."

"I've always admired your sense of observation." Nico said.

They hauled the last few boxes into the car after Percy and Annabeth arm wrestled for who was driving (completely ignoring Nico's 'hey, I can drive too!'), and got going.

Nico soon recognised the route.

"The hospital?" Nico asked.

"You'll see." Annabeth repeated.

Nico rolled his eyes. Surprises- great.

"When did you all become mature adults?"

They parked in the underground lot and took the elevator to the oncology ward.

"I don't get it," Nico said. "Why are you guys coming here too?"

"You'll see, Corpse Breath."

They dragged Nico over to the playroom where something important seemed to be going on.

Clay was standing on an official-looking carpet taking a certificate from a guy in a suit as parents, family, friends, patients, doctors, nurses, the hospital director and even news cameras crowded around. Journalists took pictures of Clay who had 'what the heck?' plastered across his face as he shook hands with the man in the suit. The suit clashed with the bright, happy-coloured playroom draped in the paper chain (which Nico had never seen up yet) and Clay, who still had the Spiderman bandana.

"Told you we'd be late," Annabeth chided softly.

"I don't get it what's going on?" Nico asked.

"Go up front; they've saved you a seat." Percy said. Annabeth shoved him forwards and Nico felt totally left out on some big secret.

Nico did and sat down next to Fredericka. She hushed him when he asked a question, and slapped his knee when he tried to ask again.

"Guinness World Record is proud to present the Oncology ward of Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital with this award for the world's longest paper chain made by hand." The man said. Nico's eyes widened and he had to get nudged by Fred to clap like everyone else.

"Really?" He whispered. "We actually won it?"

"No, we're just posing this to amaze you." she said, rolling her eyes. She'd been cancer free for 2 months now, and her red hair was growing back.

"Honestly, what did you think?" Troy on his other side, said. He'd been declared cancer-free a few days ago- he'd be going home soon. Nico was at least glad that two kids Sarah had hung out with were making it, and Clay had finally gotten the money he needed for his leg amputation, so he'd be okay too.

Clay took the mic from the guy and said,

"The idea for this was by Sarah Barclay so this award is going to hang right there underneath the cardboard sun because she said that it would even if she'll never see it now. We're going to use the prize money for the ward and research for cancer so that nobody is going to have to come to this place again," Clay said in a voice that said 'they told me to say this, this is completely scripted'. "Sarah was an amazing person and she always said that we could do it and now we did because she got us to work all together. She even made Tall guy work."

A few people laughed when Clay burst out in that unscripted comment.

"Tall guy come here!" Clay said. Nico froze in panicked 'uh…' A lot of things Clay wanted to do… Let's just say that Sarah had taught him well.

Doctor Squirt nudged for him to come forwards, and Nico did hating certain technology (such as, say, cameras) a lot more than when he came in.

"Tall guy actually kissed Sarah so it's like his idea too, and Tall guy even came to help when Sarah was gone, so Tall guy should get to get his picture taken too." Clay reasoned. Doctor Squirt leaned in and whispered something to Clay.

"Oh, and Doctor Squirt says that his name is Nico di Angelo not Tall guy and the only reason he kissed her was because they liked each other like Doctor Squirt and Crystal do. But he didn't say that last part- Sarah told me."

_Yeah_, Nico thought as people laughed. _Sarah had trained him really well…_

And it was looking down at the people clapping their hands, or nudging their parents, or trying once again to recount the rings on the chain that hung around the room, all over the ceiling, and out into the hallways that Nico realised that Sarah had not only trained Clay well; but Sarah wasn't really gone- or at least not totally.

She'd just let go.

The End

10:24, 17 September 2011

5:55, 24 October 2011


End file.
